Tender Feelings
by FluffPuffCat
Summary: [Deltarune] Kris yearns to return to the Dark World to reunite with their comrade, Ralsei.
1. Reunited

Kris squirmed around in bed, unable to fall asleep.

They couldn't forget about their adventure through that strange world underneath the school closet. Every part of that journey had felt so real, it couldn't have been a hallucination. Meeting Lancer, walking across the endless fields of purple grass, learning about the Lightners and the Darkners, warning everyone they met in the forest about Susie's attacks, braving the checker board castle, designing the ultimate evil machine, breaking out of prison, solving the puzzles in Card Castle, meeting the King, saying goodbye to Ralsei...

Ralsei.

Kris lowered their body under their blanket. Their face grew hot. Their hands couldn't stop trembling. They grabbed their face by the chin and started quivering, sweating.

At the end of their journey, Ralsei had revealed his face. Kris couldn't believe their eyes when they saw that adorable, pink-horned goat under the green mask, smiling earnestly back at them. Ralsei had a shy smile. The light in his eyes was a gentle one, a lovely glow that sunk deep into Kris, filling their heart with an emotion beyond words. A faint blush had hung over Ralsei's cute cheeks.

Kris had wanted to reach out and pinch those cheeks, give them a good rub, pat Ralsei on the head so they could feel the softness of his fur. Except if they'd done that in front of Susie, well, their upcoming years in school probably wouldn't be pleasant.

The feeling that had buried its way into Kris's heart from seeing Ralsei's glowing smile was pleasant at first, but the moment they'd said goodbye to each other, it transformed into a knife. Each step Kris took away from Ralsei made that knife twist in their chest. By the time they'd reached the fountain, they could have given anything to run back and grab Ralsei and tell them to come along with them. But they said nothing. They didn't want to cause an embarrassing scene in front of Susie. When the world started to disappear around them, the heart-rending knife melted into burning lava.

Now, lying in bed, Kris couldn't escape that body-rending pain. They wanted to scream.

Everything they'd seen and gone through today had been so bizarre, they were still wondering whether or not they were inside a dream. They'd heard rumours about the substances some people in town were taking, substances that could alter your perception and your state of mind and take you somewhere far away, a much more pleasant place. Kris had never tried one of those drugs before. And, well, if that whole adventure had been due to Susie blowing some noxious fumes inside that closet, well...

No.

It was real. All of it.

Kris gripped the bed sheets. Their trembling fingers were starting to shake the wooden bed frame, creating a ruckus that would no doubt summon their mother to their room if it got any worse.

How could that world have been fake if they remembered Ralsei's voice so clearly?

Ralsei's words of encouragement, the soothing sensation of receiving his healing magic, the unbearable yearning to be by his side again, that stomach-churning worry in their chest at what became of Ralsei's fate after they had left – it was tearing their mind apart.

Kris jumped out of bed, a crazed look in their eyes.

They wish they could reach into their heart and pull out their soul, their small, red-shaped soul, slam it against the ground, stomp on it until it was in a hundred shattered pieces.

At least, then, they wouldn't have to feel such visceral pain anymore, this unbearable longing to be back by Ralsei's side.

They had to return. There was no other choice.

They had to go back to that world and find Ralsei.

Kris moved quietly to avoid waking up their mother. They tiptoed downstairs into the dark living room, where the delicious smell of pie made something else churn in their stomach. They ignored that feeling, too overcome by pure, irrational desire for Ralsei's companionship to worry about hunger. Silently, Kris put on their shoes and sneaked out the front door, hoping that their mother hadn't heard them.

In the dark of the night, Kris ran all the way to their school.

The front doors were open, to their surprise. Normally, the school would be locked at night, though it wasn't necessary in a neighbourhood as peaceful as theirs. But then they remembered that they and Susie were the last ones to leave school that day, so the teachers had probably left the doors unlocked for them to exit after everybody else had left.

They were in luck.

Kris bolted towards the supply closet at the back of the school. With shuddering hands, they flung the closet doors open. Beyond lay that familiar, all-enclosing darkness. This time, they couldn't tell if the darkness was due to the lack of lighting inside the school or if it was due to the presence of the Dark World behind it.

There was only one way to find out. Kris stepped into the closet.

Their body began falling.

* * *

Kris opened their eyes.

Light blue skin, dark hair, a magenta cloak, white boots, and a red sword. They blinked, wondering if they were really back inside the Dark World. The barren, mountainous walls surrounding them, some of the walls filled with holes that resembled eyes, indicated that they were. A cold breeze swept their hair. The black, starless ceiling gave them visions of a journey through a Dark World filled with peril, puzzles, and friendship.

Ralsei was in this world.

Kris set off at a sprint, far more motivated than the last time they woke up here. Their pounding heart was filled with determination. They had to find out what had happened to Ralsei since they parted ways at the throne room of Card Castle. It was the only thing on their mind.

The slopes and falls of this lonely region of the Dark World did little to stop them from running their fastest to reach the castle town. Ralsei's voice rang in their head, urging them on. They would see that cute, friendly goat boy again if it was the last thing they ever did.

When Castle Town came into sight and everything appeared as before, they began to feel some hope. At least the Dark World hadn't been destroyed by them breaking through the fountain to get back to the Light World. Kris ran through town, whose shops were still closed, and entered the castle through the surprisingly open door.

The dark, spacious hall beyond caused a flood of memories to return. Their first encounter with Lancer. Ralsei under the guise of the dark blue robe, explaining the prophecy of the Heroes. Susie storming off. Their eyes darted around the room, hoping beyond hope that they would see Ralsei hiding somewhere here again.

The sound of approaching footsteps made their heart beat twice as fast.

Could Ralsei actually be here?

Something turned in Kris' stomach, a hot, acidic feeling that threatened to rise into their throat and melt their vocal cords into ash. They remained silent as they heard the footsteps getting closer. Their heart must have skipped a beat when they saw the door opening. Kris closed their eyes. Whoever was behind this door would make or break them.

"...Kris?"

That voice.

Kris's eyes opened, and in front of them was that same blue hooded figure. This time, the figure quickly took off his hood, revealing...well, the next hood he wore underneath: his green mask and pink scarf, the gown with the heart symbol at the centre, his big circular glasses.

Kris couldn't believe what they were seeing.

"Kris? Why are you back?"

Ralsei stepped forward, cautiously at first, then his wary expression slowly morphed back into his shy, happy demeanour. A transient smile dawned across his face. He looked confused, a little nervous. But he wasn't afraid.

Kris opened their mouth to speak, hoping that words would still come out.

"I'm glad you're okay," Kris began.

"Thanks. I'm happy to see you're still in one piece, too! Is Susie all right?"

"Yes, she is."

"That's good." A sigh of relief. "So the two of you were able to get back home, right?"

"Yeah. What happened after we left?"

As much as they wanted to throw their arms around Ralsei, pulling him into the tightest hug he'd ever received, they figured they ought to find out what had transpired in the Dark World since they left.

"Oh, umm..." Ralsei adjusted his scarf, his eyes turning upwards. "The King's minions came to the throne room to find you. Lancer couldn't keep them out for much longer, and the King was about to wake up, so we decided to escape on his motorbike. We rode the bike out of his castle and fled west, luckily without getting caught."

Kris had a hard time imagining Ralsei and Lancer riding the motorbike together...and out of a castle? Did they drive down the wall or something?

"Once we were sure that the king's minions weren't tailing us, we parted ways at the field," Ralsei continued. "Lancer said he was going to hide from his father for a while. I decided to come back here and hide in this castle." Ralsei's eyes turned down to the floor, his smile growing dim. "When I heard you walking in, I was scared that the king's minions had already found me. I considered running away, but I felt...something about you, something that made me choose to stay. A hero's aura, maybe? I knew it was you even before I opened the door."

"Ralsei...I'm glad you didn't run away," Kris said, unable to hide the burgeoning grin upon their lips. "I would've been alone if you did. I'm not here with Susie this time."

Ralsei smiled back in that distressingly cute manner. Kris's heart was ready to burst from their chest.

"So, what brings you back?" Ralsei asked.

Kris knew better than to confess their feelings in some melodramatic spiel, even though every fibre in their body wished to reveal the truth to the goat boy standing before them. "I wanted to know if you were safe."

"Oh, how kind of you. Thanks, Kris. But now that you're down here again, the only way for you to get back to your world is to make the journey all the way east again. Won't that be troublesome for you?"

Kris tucked their arms behind their back. They twirled their foot in circles as they spoke, carefully choosing the right words to say. "The thing is, I don't – I feel like I want to stay longer this time. I don't want to go back to my world yet."

Ralsei looked surprised. "You don't want to return to your world?"

Kris tried to smile again. "Let's just forget about that, Ralsei. Forget about the prophecy. Forget about journeying east to destroy the fountain and everything. Things are a lot simpler if you don't try to get in anybody's way, isn't it?"

"Actually, I'm not sure what happened to the fountain." An inquisitive glow appeared in Ralsei's eyes. "You destroyed the fountain to escape this world, right?"

"Yeah, I think I had to do that...well, to be honest, I'm not sure."

"You don't know?"

"Everything became kind of blurry when Susie and I stepped towards the fountain. Then our bodies were flying through space, everything became dark, and we woke up back in our world."

"Is that really what happened?" Ralsei's eyes grew wide. "Wow, that's weird. So the fountain might still be there."

"Did you see anything when you escaped the castle?"

"I, erhh..." A slight blush was on Ralsei's cheeks, and they were approaching maximum squeezability. "It was kind of hard to get a look when I had to hold onto Lancer for dear life while we skid down the walls of the castle on his motorbike."

Kris felt a pang of jealousy. "It's okay."

"Well, if you're back again, but you're not interested in fulfilling the prophecy this time, then what do you wanna do?"

"It's up to you." Kris thought about saying 'let's stay together', but realized before they spoke that they should try to avoid coming off as overtly clingy. "Our journey was fun, but I never really got to do anything, uh, normal with you the last time I was here. Why don't you show me around your place?"

Ralsei spent a second considering it, then he nodded and gestured towards the open door at the back of the hall. "Okay."

"By the way, why are you still wearing your mask? You don't have to hide your true face from me anymore, right?"

"I, umm...I like the mask!" Ralsei grinned, revealing his sharp teeth. "I can take it off later if you really want me to, though."

"Take your time."

Excitement rushed through Kris' veins as they followed Ralsei into the interior of the castle. Ralsei took them across massive halls with arched ceilings and stained glass windows. If the Dark World had a sun, the view of evening sunlight streaming in through those windows would probably be beautiful.

Torches lit the castle's corridors and the spiral stairways that led up the towers. Kris followed Ralsei to the top of one of the towers and walked out onto the balcony. A warm wind was in the air, and the lights of the town below the castle reminded Kris of their hometown at night during the holiday season. Ralsei asked Kris how they liked the view from the top of the castle.

"It's really pretty," Kris responded, feeling a hot flush over their face. Ralsei looked so beautiful standing here with the dim city lights behind him.

"Yeah." A soft sigh escaped Ralsei's lips. "I used to come to the top of this tower and sing."

"Used to?"

"Until today. The King and his minions are searching for me right now. If I sing up here, they might hear my voice and trace it to this castle."

Kris blinked and remembered that the Dark World was probably better at amplifying sounds than their own world by virtue of being underground. Their heart dropped at the realization that Ralsei couldn't do something he loved anymore, and it was mostly his (and Susie's) fault.

"I hope they give up looking for you," Kris said, trying to sound encouraging. "It must be hard living on the run."

An earnest smile. "Don't worry. If anything, I'd be more worried about you, since you're the one they really want."

"Thanks, but I'm not scared of them." Kris had never feared anyone that they'd fought down here. The various Rudinns and Hathys and Bloxers that they fought were hardly worse than Susie on a bad day. The King himself, however, was another matter. "I'll keep watch over you, Ralsei. I'll make sure they don't catch you."

"Really? You're so nice! I'll watch your back too, Kris."

Ralsei was beaming brightly enough to be a makeshift sun for the Dark World. Kris felt their head growing faint with happiness.

"Let's keep going," Ralsei offered, and they descended back down the stairs.

Kris followed Ralsei through the remaining halls of the castle, visiting the kitchen and the treasury and a garden filled with beautiful yellow flowers. Ralsei explained that they were buttercups, his favourite flower. One of his jobs was to water the flowers every day and to use his magic to give them the light that they needed to grow. The result of his hard work maintaining the garden was this gorgeous golden meadow that bloomed even in the depths of the Dark World.

Seeing Ralsei's garden reminded Kris of a memory from a long time ago. A memory involving their mother, Toriel, and their brother, Asriel.

"Look at those beautiful flowers!" Toriel had exclaimed, pointing to a rainbow patch of wildflowers that grew on the hill at the edge of town. Kris and Asriel got out of their mother's car and ran towards the patch, eager to play in it.

"Children, be careful. Some flowers are poisonous, so do be sure to avoid getting those flowers in your mouth or in your eyes!"

Kris couldn't remember why, but they had gotten into an argument with Asriel that same day. They had made the very cruel decision of picking some of the yellow flowers and sneaking the petals into their mother's pie once they were home.

Thinking back on it now, Kris grew red with embarrassment. How could they have been so rash and stupid? They could have seriously hurt their brother or their mother, or even themselves.

But their mother had noticed the strange smell of buttercups coming from her pie once it was baked, and when she cut out a slice, she found traces of yellow petals in the filling inside. That whole pie was dumped, and she grew distraught for an entire week over how careless she had been with her cooking.

She'd never suspected that Kris was responsible for sneaking those petals in, because she'd picked some yellow flowers herself, placing them in a vase inside her house. Kris never brought it up for fear of punishment. And they knew better than to ever try that again.

They owed a debt to their mother for saving the life of their brother.

"This is the prettiest garden I've ever seen," Kris said to Ralsei, snapping back into the present.

The goat boy's blush threatened to consume his entire face. "Thank you so much."

"Where did you get all these flowers?"

"There used to be a nice patch of these flowers at the edge of town. Years ago, the patch was a lot bigger, and people in town were afraid of their children wandering into the patch and touching the poisonous yellow flowers, so I had to cull them. I didn't want to just throw all of them away, though, so I decided to grow them in my very own garden!"

Internally, Kris laughed at the similarity in the worries that the denizens of the Dark World had as with the people from the Light World. "You're kind of like the caretaker of this town, aren't you?"

"Of course. I'm their prince."

"I bet you're the best prince anyone could ever have!"

'Thank you." Ralsei's smile threatened to melt Kris into a burning red mess of goo. "Well, Kris, that about concludes my tour of this castle. I was planning to get some reading done in my room tonight, but since you're here..."

"Wait. You never showed me your room."

A nervous giggle erupted from Ralsei's lips. "I could show you if you really wanted me to, but, ummm...don't you think you should be thinking about finding a place to stay for the night? I mean, if you're thinking of remaining in this world for a while..."

"Sure, sure."

The dominant thought in Kris' mind was 'why don't you let me sleep in your room for the night?'

Kris blinked and shook that thought away. It was way too inappropriate of a suggestion. Ralsei was right: they needed to find some lodging.

"I guess I'll look around town?" Kris suggested.

"You could, but it's a bit dangerous. The King's minions could've already infiltrated this town, and they might be on the lookout for someone of your description."

"Ah, I see."

"I guess you'll have to stay in my castle for the night."

Ralsei gave an embarrassed laugh, his eyes glimmering with genial warmth. Their watery light washed over Kris, wrapping their body into a soft, comfortable shroud. They felt as at ease as a leaf gliding down a gentle stream, everything glowing and sparkling. Kris could stare at Ralsei's beautiful eyes forever. They would be happy that way, happier than being back home with their brother, happier than they had ever felt in their whole life. Ralsei's smile was better than anything the world could ever offer.

A rumbling sound broke Kris out of their reverie. "I, uh...I'm kind of hungry."

"Okay. I'll make some food for you."

'Thanks a lot!"

They went into the kitchen, Kris watching Ralsei and wondering how someone could ever be so perfect. If only the goat boy could take off his mask and show his cute, floppy ears, his charming, pink horns!

Inside his kitchen, Ralsei boiled a pot of white mushroom soup with DarkBurger meat and additionally served Kris a slice of Top Cake. It was delicious.

Good thing Ralsei wasn't as obsessed with snail-based cuisine as their mother was!

"Hey, Kris," Ralsei spoke as they began eating, "How is your world like?"

Kris smiled, feeling unreasonably happy that Ralsei was asking them about their life. "Really different. We have...uh, how can I describe this to you? We have days and nights. During the days, the sky is really bright, and I have to go to school. You have schools here, right?" Ralsei nodded slowly. "Yeah. In school, we have to learn, and we do a lot of projects with our classmates. My teacher, Alphys, she's a real nerd, but she teaches really well! Except her tests are kind of hard. My mom gets really mad when I fail a test. Oh, and Susie's my classmate. The whole reason we fell into this world is because we had to get some extra chalk from the school's supply closet together. I, erhh, don't really know why there's an interdimensional portal in our school's closet, though. That's really weird."

Ralsei's expression alternated between pleasant astonished and mildly befuddled. "You came to our world through your school?"

"Yeah. I also went back to my world through the same supply closet after I stepped through the fountain behind the King's throne room."

"Wow. And did you get back here through the same closet?"

"Yep."

"Huh. What's the connection?"

"Beats me."

"Yeah, I don't think this will be easy to figure out."

Kris finished their slice of top cake and began drinking the soup. "Oh, and during night time in my world, the sky gets really dark, kind of like how it always is in this world. But we don't need torches or candles to keep our rooms lit. We have light bulbs that can do that. Actually, we just have a whole lot more technology in my world than you do. Errhh, sorry." Kris rubbed their head with an apologetic smile. "Like, my mother gets around town with her car. It's this big machine that takes you to places a lot faster than you could get to by walking."

"That sounds like a wonderful machine. How many people can it fit? Thirty? Fifty? A hundred?"

"Ummm...more like, four," Kris replied, laughing. "A few more if you have a big car, like my mother's van."

"Oh."

"Yeah, our world's full of machines and stuff, and I don't always get how they work." Kris thought about showing Ralsei their phone, but decided to leave that for later, since their phone didn't exactly work down in this world. "But really, thanks for the food."

"You're welcome." Another heart-stopping smile. "But where are you planning to sleep tonight?"

"Hmmm...how about the garden?"

"You want to sleep in that place?"

"I don't know why, but I kind of like that place. It's just so beautiful – thanks to your hard work. I wouldn't mind spending a night there."

"All right. Just avoid trampling the flowers, though."

"Will do."

Kris helped Ralsei with washing the dishes. Every once in a while, their arms would bump against each other, and Kris would feel a jolt of indescribable satisfaction. The feeling sank deep into their gut and made their whole body feel warm.

When the dishes were done, Ralsei took Kris back to the garden.

"I guess this is where we part ways," Kris said.

"Why are you saying 'part way's? We're practically still in the same building!"

"Oh, sorry. I mean, errhhh..."

To Kris' surprise, Ralsei simply smiled and took off his mask.

Seeing the pretty goat boy again, Kris couldn't stop grinning. The warm pink blush on Ralsei's cheeks, his cute floppy ears, that tuft of fluffy hair atop his head, and most of all, his gorgeous smile. He was just so beautiful in every possible way. Kris knew they probably looked like an absolute idiot right now, but they couldn't care less.

Nothing could stop them from feeling so happy.

"Kris," Ralsei said, his voice lowering to a whisper, "I know it's selfish of me to say this, but...I'm glad you're back. The truth is, I, umm, I started to feel rather lonely after you and Susie left. I know I shouldn't be happy about you coming back here, 'cuz it's dangerous with the King's minions looking for you and all, but, seeing you at my castle again, showing you around this place tonight, it just made me feel...it made me feel really happy."

"I'm happy to be back too, Ralsei."

"Well, I guess if you're happy..."

Ralsei's blush grew deeper. He closed his eyes with a gentle smile.

Ralsei leaned forward and gave Kris a quick kiss on the lips.

Kris froze, their eyes growing huge. "Ralsei..."

"Sorry. Good night," Ralsei said, waving at Kris and hurrying out of the room.

Kris slowly licked their lips, listening to the sound of Ralsei's footsteps growing farther and farther away.

That just happened. It really just happened.

Ralsei kissed them.

Kris couldn't feel their arms, their legs, their body, or their face anymore. They were floating somewhere high, high up, somewhere warmer than they had ever been, warmer than the world could ever be.

As they fell onto the flower bed, they began to hear a soft voice in the distance.

Ralsei was singing one of his lullabies.

It was a beautiful song, full of melancholy, full of nostalgic feeling and a quiet yearning for something far, far away. As far as the heart could be.

Kris closed their eyes and listened.

While the sun would rise in the Light World, people would get up from their beds, school would begin – the Dark World would forever remain in perpetual darkness. Nothing but the glow of Ralsei's dazzling smile could keep this world warm.

Ralsei's song and the scent of the yellow flowers reminded Kris of a child that chose the Dark World over the Light one, the underground over the surface, a child that wandered far away from home, far from the places that they knew, wandering and wandering until they had fallen down.

Fallen down onto a bed of flowers.


	2. Board Games And Fairy Tales

Kris awoke on a bed of flowers deep underneath the world where birds sang sweet songs and the sunlight shone onto the blossoming gardens.

For a minute, they almost thought their mother was going to come into their room, sweep aside the curtains, and demand that they get out of bed or else they'd be late for school. Instead, they heard the peaceful silence of a faraway world that knew no light, and saw the resounding darkness of an empty castle that understood only one warmth.

Ralsei.

Kris got up and stretched, their thoughts preoccupied by only one person. Even though they had only just woken up, their heart was beating rapidly, and they felt oddly queasy. A longing rushed through their veins and pushed their legs to begin looking through the castle for the person they wanted to see.

It didn't take them long to catch the sound of that familiar lullaby.

They began to walk towards the direction that the sound came from, hoping they would stumble upon Ralsei's room by trial and error. The beautiful voice took them up a flight of stairs and down a long, winding hallway before they arrived in front of a purple door marked by a curious symbol. Kris couldn't quite identify what the symbol was, but they had a feeling that they'd seen it before. The curved triangular shape and the two wings looked rather familiar.

By this time, the singing had stopped. Kris paused, wondering if Ralsei would get annoyed at them if they knocked on his door. Something lurched in their stomach, an all-too-unpleasant feeling.

Why did they suddenly care about being a bother to Ralsei? They had never thought so much about whether or not they would cause someone trouble before.

"Kris?" the voice from behind the door spoke.

Instantly, Kris's heart jumped into overdrive. Just the sound of Ralsei's voice made the entire world clear and bright again. "Ralsei? Sorry, I didn't mean to come to your room. I just heard you singing, and it was really beautiful, so I felt like I should..."

The door opened. A green-robed wizard stared up at Kris, eyes glittering with the purest appreciation. "You like my song, Kris?"

"Of course I do!" Kris wanted to reach out and give Ralsei the tightest hug he'd ever received, only barely restraining themselves.

"Thank you so much. You're too kind, Kris."

Kris smiled, almost disbelieving their ears. Ralsei thought they were the kind one?

"I really do like it. Your voice is gorgeous, and that was a really pretty tune."

"Awww...I don't know what to say, Kris..."

The blushing look that came over Ralsei's permanently shadowed face could've made Kris's heart stop. Stop with happiness, that is. If they died right now from looking into Ralsei's sun-bright smile, they would have no regrets.

"What's the name of that song?" Kris asked.

Ralsei hesitated before answering. "I don't really know. I've known how to sing it since I was very young, and I can put my magic into the tune to pacify people who hear it."

"Well, it sure was good at putting Susie to sleep."

"That was definitely due to my magic!"

"Did you use magic when you were singing last night? It helped me sleep." Kris made a goofy smile. Actually, with how happy they were feeling, they were sure they looked goofy regardless of their expression.

"Oh, you heard me singing last night?"

Another embarrassed blush. Kris's give-Ralsei-a-hug-o-meter was almost certainly about to reach its limit.

"Sorry," Kris said, scratching their head. "The sound carries well through this castle, especially to the garden."

"No, it's nothing to be sorry about!" Ralsei's smile returned, and they stepped forward, getting unbearably close to Kris. "Ummm, do you want to come in to my room?"

"Sure. Thanks!"

Ralsei's room could've made an additional floor to the library in Kris's hometown. It was filled to capacity with bookshelves that were in turn overflowing with books. The books ranged from novels to fables to biographies to textbooks. Kris never knew Ralsei was such an avid reader. They weren't such a keen reader themselves, having little fondness for the boring books their teachers made them read at school. But they liked the stories their mother used to read to them and Asriel at night. Fun, magical stories of adventures in faraway lands with whimsical characters, thick intrigue, and awe-inspiring feats of bravery. Each time their mother told them one of those stories, they would listen with wide-eyed interest, complaining vehemently when it came time to go to bed.

Those nights became replaced by gaming sessions with Asriel as they grew up.

"Wow. Your room is a library."

"Do you like it?" Ralsei asked.

Kris couldn't say no to those eyes, ever. "I love it! I didn't know you enjoyed reading so much."

"Thank you! I try to read whatever I can, whenever I have the time." Ralsei's voice grew high-pitched, and it was unbelievably adorable. "I love seeing piles of unopened books, waiting to be read. The smell of their ink. The feeling of their pages in my hands."

"That sounds wonderful."

Ralsei also sounded a lot like their mother. Coincidentally, their mother was also a goat.

Kris's face grew red as they made the connection between Ralsei and Toriel. They spun away to hide their face, masking the suddenness of their movement by walking towards one of the books that lay on the floor. They picked it up, opened to the first page, and was surprised to find that the entire book had been written by hand with ink. The title of the book was "The Tale of Mt. Ebott".

"Where did you get all these books?" Kris asked.

"The writers' guild in town sells them," Ralsei replied. He walked towards Kris and examined the book they held. "Are you interested in reading that one?"

"Maybe. What else do you do besides reading, anyway?"

Ralsei looked surprised. "Well, umm, since I'm by myself in this castle most of the time, there's nothing for me to do but read. But now that you're here, we might be able to find other things to do!"

Kris couldn't keep their give-Ralsei-a-hug-o-meter from bursting any longer.

"We can do whatever you like," Kris said with their friendliest grin plastered on their face.

"How about I show you some of my games?"

Kris was almost about to ask 'you have games in this world?' when they realized that no, of course Ralsei didn't have any video games. They were pretty sure this world didn't use electricity yet. But if they were to ever bring Ralsei over to their house in the Light World, they'd introduce Ralsei to Super Smash Fighters.

What could they say? Super Smash Fighters was their favourite fighting game. It sparked that competitive spirit in them, and neither they nor Asriel would quit until they'd won the last match. They'd play late into the night until their mother stomped into their room, unplugged the cable, and ordered them to their beds.

Kris felt heart-wrenching nostalgia as they thought about the days they'd spent playing Super Smash Fighters with Asriel. Each of them had their favourite characters: Asriel liked Yisho, the green dinosaur that could throw eggs, while Kris favoured Pigglyjuff, the small pink ball with a fearsome reputation. They wondered which character would Ralsei like the most?

"Kris? Would you like to play some board games?"

Snapping back to the present, Kris turned towards Ralsei and noticed he was standing near a shelf at the back of the room filled with familiar board game sets. At a glance, they saw checkers, chess, snakes and ladders, and a few that they didn't recognize. They weren't the best at strategy games, though.

"Do you have cards?" Kris asked.

"Cards?" Ralsei's eyes widened with astonishment, but his shock quickly changed into mild amusement. "I'm sorry, Kris. But if I'd known that you liked cards, I would have gotten a set during our journey east!"

"They don't have cards in this town?"

Ralsei shook his head, his smile returning. "Everyone here loves games, but we're split between card games and board games. The people in the east around Card Castle love, well, card games. Once you go west of checkerboard castle, everyone loves board games. And, I guess you know where we are..."

"So you only have board games here?" Kris asked, a little disappointed.

"Do you...do you not like board games?"

The sad, pleading look in Ralsei's eyes gave Kris feelings they didn't know they were capable of experiencing. They hadn't realized it before, but now they understood that it was possible to die by cuteness.

"I love board games!" Kris lied, rushing across the room to get a better look at Ralsei's selection of board games and accidentally knocking over a few books in the process. "What's your favourite one?"

"I like all of them, but if I were to pick a favourite, it'd probably be Go."

"I've never heard of that one. What's Go?"

"Oh, it's okay. I'll teach you!"

Ralsei took from his shelf a large wooden board painted with a grid containing far too many squares, and two beige porcelain pots that Kris discovered was full of flat, circular stones. One pot held only black stones, while the other pot had all white stones.

"Go is simple," Ralsei began, his voice dripping with excitement. "We each take turns placing stones at the line intersections on the board–"

"At the line intersections? Not inside the squares?"

Ralsei shook his head. "It's different from chess and checkers in that aspect. But don't worry, Kris! Once you've played a couple of games, you'll get used to it."

"What's the goal of the game?"

"The goal is to capture the most territory with your stones. Each line intersection counts as one point of territory. That means every intersection you've surrounded with your stones will award you a point at the end of the game. Mind if I demonstrate?"

"Sure."

With a cheerful smile and a slight pink blush, Ralsei took out four black stones and placed them in the four cardinal directions – top, down, left, and right – around a single intersection. "See this intersection? It's surrounded by four black stones, so it gives one point for black." Ralsei then placed a white stone at another intersection and surrounded it on all four directions again with a black stone. "When black fully surrounds one of white's stones like this, the white stone is removed from the board. It's the same with the colours swapped, too." Ralsei picked up the white stone and placed it inside the lid of the porcelain jar filled with black stones. "Simple, right?"

"Oh, I get it," Kris said. "Basically, I just want to keep encircling your stones so I can take them off the board. At the end, whoever has captured the most space wins."

Something sparkled in Ralsei's eyes. "Right! You got it, Kris. There's a few more rules for tricky situations, but we can talk about those as we start playing."

"Sure. Should I go first, or should you?"

"Since it's your first time playing, why don't you go first?" Ralsei passed Kris the pot of black stones. "Black puts the first stone on the board."

Kris put their stone on the intersection at the centre of the board. Ralsei put his white stone beside it. With a triumphant smile, Kris played their next stone around Ralsei's to begin the encirclement.

...They quickly realized that surrounding Ralsei's stones was much, much more difficult than they'd presumed. Every time they thought they could capture one of Ralsei's stones, Ralsei would place another stone beside it, extending the area covered by the two stones and increasing the number of spaces they'd need to place their black stones on to fully surround both stones. Ralsei played cleverly, putting his white stones on the board in shapes that trapped Kris's black stones, preventing them from escaping no matter which direction Kris tried to extend them. In no time at all, the board turned into an utter geometrical nightmare, spirals and spirals of stones encircling each other, with Ralsei always one move ahead.

"This is impossible," Kris whined. "How am I supposed to get out of this situation?"

Ralsei smiled sympathetically. "You could always try playing your next stone on another corner of the board."

Kris attempted to do so, kicking off another round of stones encircling stones until a second pattern emerged on the board. Once again, Kris found their black stones walking into traps laid out by Ralsei's white stones. However, they were able to get out this time by encircling one of Ralsei's white stones first.

"Yes!" Kris cried, finally placing a captured white stone in the lid of their jar.

"I'm glad you saw through my trick," Ralsei replied, his eyes glittering. "I'm so proud of you!"

Kris was at a loss for words.

Ralsei was congratulating them for escaping a trap that he'd laid out. His kindness knew no bounds.

"Thank you," Kris said at last. "You're pretty good at this game, Ralsei."

"Thanks, Kris! Let's keep playing."

As the game continued, the different patterns that had emerged on the four corners of the board began to converge upon one another. Kris's mind spun as they realized that the board was a living canvas painted by their stones. Hundreds of stones fought for territory, fought to link up with each other, fought to cut the other stones off. It was a dynamic battle, a fierce tide that ebbed and flowed, groups waxing and waning. Every move mattered. Every stone placed on the board changed the fate of one group while sealing the fate of another.

The lids of their jars piled up with the stones they had captured, white in Kris's and black in Ralsei's.

Eventually, the shifting patterns on the board settled into concrete, impermeable formations. Only a few spaces were left for the taking. Their last stones were spent on encircling these spaces, sealing up the corners of the board, and capturing the remaining stones left stranded.

When it became clear that neither of them had any more plausible moves, they began counting the spaces each had encircled.

Ralsei came out with more than double Kris's score.

"I'm really sorry, Kris," Ralsei said, his blush growing deep red. "I should've gone easy on you, since it was your first time playing."

"No, it's all right! I had fun playing," Kris insisted, trying to restrain their urge to pinch Ralsei's reddening cheeks.

"Really? Kris, you're too nice!"

Kris was startled when Ralsei reached forward and pulled them into a hug. They held their breath as they felt the whole world fading away.

Ralsei's arms were warm, soft. The scent of his fur was beyond lovely. His fluffy cheeks nudged against Kris's, silky fur caressing their skin, gently tickling their face.

Kris's head grew faint. Slowly, they raised their arms to return the hug.

Oh, the fluffiness.

The soft, delicate feeling of Ralsei's tender body...

His warmth...

His gentle, mushy touch...

Kris pressed their face against Ralsei's, unable to bear the distance any longer. He smelled so good. His fur felt like the comfiest pillow they had ever laid their head against. Kris closed their eyes, realizing nothing else in the world could ever compare to this feeling. This was all they needed.

Being in Ralsei's arms was the only paradise they would ever long for.

"Kris?" Ralsei whispered, finally pulling away a little. Kris dreaded the distance, but they gave Ralsei his space.

"Yeah?" Kris replied.

"Thanks for being such a good friend. The truth is, before you, nobody ever played Go with me. I played all my board games with myself. I'm always the only person in this castle, you know? It gets kind of...lonely, sometimes."

Kris felt their heart being torn apart. Tears welled up in their eyes.

"I know, I could just go around town and play with the chess guild, the Go clubs, the snakes and ladders parlour...but, when I did that, it didn't feel the same. It didn't feel the same as playing with you."

Ralsei's eyes glittered.

"When I taught the game to you, and you listened, when I played with you and watched you learn – it made me – you really made me happy today, Kris."

Before Kris could stop themselves, they threw their arms around Ralsei, pulling him into the tightest hug they had ever given.

"I'll be your friend," Kris said, blinking the wetness out of their eyes. "I like spending time with you, Ralsei. I think you're a really cool person."

"Kris...do you mean it?"

"Of course I do."

Kris pulled Ralsei deeper into their arms.

So, so fluffy.

Ralsei nuzzled up against Kris's cheek, his warmth and softness seeping into Kris's skin and making its way deep, deep down into their heart.

Kris wished that they would never let go.

"Thank you, Kris," Ralsei whispered.

"No problem. This is what friends do, right?"

Before they hugged Ralsei for too long, they willed themselves to pull away. They had to before it got too awkward, even if Ralsei wouldn't have minded it.

Best to keep things slow while they were still learning about each others' lives.

"Ralsei, what other games do you have?" Kris asked.

"Actually, I'm feeling a little tired," Ralsei replied, smiling and blushing characteristically. "Kris, do you mind if I read a book instead?"

"Not at all! Let's read a book together."

"Okay!"

Kris watched with curiosity as Ralsei walked towards the book they had picked up earlier and brought it over to them. They sat down in two wooden rocking chairs and snuggled up close beside each other.

"I'll read you 'The Tale of Mt. Ebott'," Ralsei said, beaming with excitement. "It's one of my favourite stories."

"What's it about?"

"It imagines a world where humans and monsters live apart from each other, after a terrible war tore them apart."

Humans and monsters living apart? Kris couldn't imagine such a world.

They barely knew any humans. Monsters had been their family, their teachers, and their friends all throughout their life.

"At the start of the story, a human child wanders up the legendary Mount Ebott, where the monsters were rumoured to have been imprisoned. The story begins when they fall down a hole deep into the mountain."

"Oooh, what happens next?" Kris asked, leaning closer.

The warm smile that came over Ralsei's face was all the encouragement Kris needed to begin reading.

Ralsei flipped to the first page. "The tale begins when the child meets a flower..."


	3. Ralsei and Asriel

Asriel had always been the best older brother Kris could've asked for.

Growing up together, Kris looked up to Asriel as their role model. Asriel was smart, friendly, good at video games, and one of the most popular kids at school. Whenever someone tried to bully Kris, Asriel would be there to stand up for them. Asriel tried his hardest to include Kris in all the games that he played, to be there for Kris to talk to about their problems, and even when they got into arguments, Asriel would be the first to back down, often apologizing to resolve the tension between them despite being usually right.

Kris didn't know how to make friends like Asriel could, and they preferred to stick by themselves when all the other kids were having fun together. They developed a reputation as an aloof loner, though not in the bad way that Susie's reputation had. Kris would still be invited to peoples' games and parties, and they could usually find a partner to do projects with. The problem was, Kris never felt understood by others. They always felt that they were missing something that other people had.

Often Kris would stay indoors during lunch recess, not doing anything in particular, but feeling that there was no point in playing any of the games that the other kids played. The teachers would get worried about them, and some raised their concerns with their mother during parent-teacher interviews, but because Kris wasn't too antisocial or unfriendly, they never did anything about it in the end. After all, Kris was the only human at the school, so it was natural that they'd feel a little different from the other kids, who were all monsters.

The only person that Kris truly considered a friend was their brother, Asriel. He had never abandoned them throughout all the years they'd spent together. At least, he hadn't, until he moved away to university.

This year was the first where Kris went to school without Asriel with them. All of a sudden, they had no one to anchor themselves to anymore. They were a ship that had left harbour, and now they were hopelessly lost, adrift on the vast ocean.

When Asriel was here, they would always have someone to talk to, and that was a comforting feeling, even when they didn't have anything to talk about. Now that Asriel was gone, Kris felt like they were wandering through each day aimlessly. With no one to attach themselves to, each day grew more and more miserable. The feeling that they were missing something, something that other people had, became stiflingly strong.

Without Asriel by their side, Kris saw a bleak and lonely future ahead. They grew withdrawn, started staying up late, woke up in the morning tired and depressed, had to be yelled out of bed by mother. They missed half their project deadlines, their grades dropped, and they had no friends left.

Sure, they kept up their normal daily attitude, afraid that something worse might happen if they admitted their problems. Ms. Alphys was prone to overreacting due to her social anxiety, after all. But that didn't stop the fact that each day felt lifeless, uninspired. They lacked the motivation to do anything. They felt that life was just one big struggle, a hurdle that was impossible to overcome, that the future could only get worse. Deep inside, they believed that everything was downhill from here on.

It all changed the day they met Ralsei.

"That was such a cool story," Kris exclaimed. "Ralsei, you have to read me more of your books!"

"You liked it?" Ralsei's pink blush shone through the shadows obscuring his face.

"Of course I do!"

"Thank you so much." Ralsei stood up, his eyes growing watery. "Kris, you're too nice. I'll read you more stories later, but I'm going to cook some food now. You don't mind eating my cooking, do you?"

"Are you kidding? I love the soup you made for me last night!"

"Kris..."

The light gleaming in Ralsei's tearful eyes was the definition of heartfelt gratitude. Kris didn't believe they could love Ralsei even more, but they were starting to doubt themselves.

"By the way, what about the next part of the book?" Kris asked, pointing at the pages in the novel that Ralsei hadn't read.

"Oh, errm, that's..." Ralsei grew a concerned expression. "That's the 'alternate timeline' of The Tale of Mt. Ebott. I don't like it as much as the first one, because the child doesn't try to make friends with all the monsters in the underground. Instead, they, uh..." Ralsei lowered his face. "You can read it if you like."

"I'm kind of curious."

"All right. I'll call you down when the food's ready."

Kris watched Ralsei leave the room, his green robes trailing behind him. Suddenly, they lost their interest. They closed the book and placed it on top of Ralsei's chair.

It was hard to believe how a single person could change their entire view of life.

Kris remembered believing that Asriel was the most amazing person in the whole world. Even though Asriel was only a few years older than them, he seemed to have everything figured out. He was kind, enthusiastic, the type of person who saw the good in everyone. His grades were invariably at the top of the class, which was how he got into the university he wanted to go. He always stood up for his younger sibling, made sure they weren't feeling left out, kept them from ever being lonely. He was the role model that Kris aspired to.

Now, Kris had met someone that was Asriel's match in kindness and optimism.

But something about Ralsei felt different. Kris had hardly known Ralsei for more than a day, but they knew in their heart that just being by Ralsei's side was enough to make them happy. Words failed to describe the emotions they felt when they saw Ralsei's smile. His laughter was contagious. His endearing blush filled Kris with the kind of happiness he didn't even believe in before, the feeling that all was right in the world. Ralsei was the only person who ever made them feel content.

Ralsei was the 'something' that Kris had felt they were missing their whole life.

Kris sank back in their chair, a smile plastered over their face. A smile they knew they wouldn't ever lose as long as Ralsei was with them.

Ralsei's shimmering eyes held a wavering light, a tender warmth. Underneath those eyes, a timeless quality shone out from the depths of his being, a ray of light refracted through trembling water to illuminate a heart full of empathy. Those eyes were mirrors of the world's feelings. They were hurt by hope, pushed onward by fear, stopped by bravery, encouraged by doubt. Kris had never felt such an affinity with someone's eyes.

His cute, floppy ears that looked like hair shrouded under black shadows. His perky green hat. His adorable pink scarf. His charming eyeglasses.

Everything about Ralsei felt perfect.

Kris looked up at the ceiling, wondering what they had ever done to deserve Ralsei. He was too good for them, too good for anyone. He was the embodiment of kindness, a brighter light than the whole world could ever shine. Ralsei had kindled a flame inside them, a fire they would hold dear forever. A gentle, unquenchable fire to remind them of the kindness that lay within his heart.

"Kris?" Ralsei said, entering the room again holding a plate of delicious smelling pastries and more mushroom soup. "I hope I didn't take too long to cook our meal. It's been over half a day since you've eaten anything, and I don't want to be a rude host..."

"Ralsei, thank you," Kris said, getting up from their chair and gratefully accepting the food. "You're the best host I could have ever asked for."

Ralsei's cheeks became the colour of rubies. "I...I don't know what to say."

"It's fine. I just appreciate everything you've done for me, that's all."

Kris took a bite out of one of the pastries. It was tender, lightly salted, and just a little sweet. "This is delicious! It's almost better than my mom's pie."

"Kris, I don't think I can take any more compliments."

"No, I really mean it. You have to teach me how to make this later."

Ralsei smiled so earnestly that Kris didn't think they had ever seen a more honest expression. "I hope you'll stay long enough for that."

"Of course I'll stay! Ralsei, I mean it when I say this: you're the nicest friend I've ever had. I want to stay by your side. I want to learn from you, share each day with you, see the world the way you see it. You've been so good to me, I don't know how I could ever repay you. I'll stay with you, if that's what it takes for me to show you my appreciation."

Ralsei's lips trembled. The light in his eyes grew soft, misty. He put down his plate and slowly removed the hat from his head.

The shadows around his face parted, revealing his true face. Beautiful pink horns and cute, floppy ears took the place of the familiar green hat and circular glasses.

"Kris, I..." Ralsei's eyes turned towards his feet. "I've never heard that from anybody before. I didn't know you saw me as such a good friend."

"You are a good friend," Kris reiterated. "The best I could've ever asked for."

"I...I don't know how to thank you..."

"No need! Let's stay with each other from now on, okay? You have a lot you can teach me, and I can keep you company for as long as you want me to be around." Kris put on the brightest smile they could muster.

With a trembling smile, Ralsei stepped forward and threw a hug around Kris.

Ralsei's scent was so good. His soft, fluffy body was like the perfectly huggable pillow. Kris pressed their arms around Ralsei's waist, cherishing the lovely feeling of his touch. They could not have asked for a more precious moment.

Kris nuzzled up against Ralsei's cheeks, close enough to feel his warm fur. Close enough to hear his steadily beating heart. The sensation of being so close to Ralsei again filled Kris with pure bliss. They wished they could freeze time so they could be in Ralsei's arms forever, to crystallize this moment into eternity. It would, at least, be etched in their memory forever.

Ralsei gave Kris a quick kiss on the cheek before parting from their hug.

Kris's face turned beet red. Lava rose into their cheeks from the brazenness of that kiss. "...Ralsei?"

"Please d-don't think about it!" Ralsei responded, stuttering. "You should drink your soup before it gets cold, Kris. Oh, and I'm planning to go on a trip around town today for groceries. Would you like to join me?"

"S-Sure," Kris replied, stammering as well as they tried to recover their wits. "Ummm, well, didn't you say that it would be kind of dangerous to go out of the castle right now? Because the king's minions are searching for us?"

"I received a message this morning saying that the town is safe from the King's spies," Ralsei said, a strange pitch in his voice. "Anyway, it wouldn't hurt for me to show you around if you're planning on staying for some time, would it?"

"I guess not. Okay. Take me on a tour of the town."

Once Kris had finished eating Ralsei's delicious cooking, they made their way to the back hall of the castle, where Kris noticed that there was another wooden door leading out. When Ralsei opened this door using a key, Kris saw beyond the door a brightly lit town filled with monsters, brightly lit shops, and the bustling commerce of a medieval-style fair. It was completely unlike the empty town in front of the castle.

"How come I hadn't see this before?" Kris asked.

Ralsei smiled embarrassingly. "The town in front of the castle was just for show. To ummm, set the scene for a heroic journey, when you came here to fulfill the prophecy."

"Oh yeah, about that prophecy. It doesn't look like we fulfilled it, did we?"

"...I guess not."

With a grin, Kris gave Ralsei a light pat on the shoulder. "It's okay. Not all prophecies need to come true, right? The important thing is that we escaped from the King alive and unhurt."

"Yeah, you're right." Ralsei brightened up, his eyes becoming characteristically bright. "I'm just really glad you came back, Kris."

Kris couldn't help but blush themselves. "You're too kind, Ralsei."

"You're the one that's nice, Kris! But, ummm, do you know if Susie's going to come back?"

"I have no idea." Kris felt guilt creeping into their chest.

They had left their hometown with no indication of where they had gone. By now, their mother must be worried sick. Ms. Alphys would be pretty concerned, too, especially given that they had disappeared with Susie for the whole day yesterday. Probably only Susie had any idea of where they had gone, and if they decided to ask her, she'd have a hard time explaining that interdimensional warp inside the school's supply closet.

Because of what they had done, Susie might get into even more trouble.

"Kris?" Ralsei spoke. "Are you feeling all right?"

"Ummm, yeah. Susie should be fine where she is right now."

Ralsei perked an eyebrow. "I hope she is. But you're looking kind of queasy."

"Do I?"

"Oh, do you get nervous when you're in busy towns? Don't worry, I get that feeling a lot too!"

"Sorry. I'll be fine," Kris replied, willing themselves to smile again. "Where are we going to first?"

"We'll go through the market square, head to the writers' guild, then check out the library and the tea parlour. How does that sound?"

Kris wanted to say that it didn't really matter, that as long as they were together, anywhere was fine. "Sounds good."

"Okay!"

They walked together from the castle towards the market square, a plaza full of open grocery stands and food stalls selling delicious smelling baked pastries and fried snacks. Many glanced their way as they walked past. Kris heard them whispering "who is the prince with?" as well as some that casually waved at Ralsei, saying "hello!" Ralsei waved back, smiling so sweetly Kris wanted to throw their arms around him and hug him until he burst.

When they arrived at the writers' guild, Ralsei took off his hat and knocked on the entrance door. A neatly assembled Bloxer opened the door, and upon seeing Ralsei, excitedly invited him in. The Bloxer gave Kris a friendly smile and asked how they'd met Ralsei, to which Kris simply replied: "We're old friends."

The inside of the guild was a cozy, homely cafe. A variety of monsters sat around a round wooden table, writing with brush and ink on pages of neatly bound paper. Two Jigsawrys waved at Ralsei and Kris, and a Rabbick offered to serve them lunch. Kris noticed two Ponmen leaning over a game of chess beside a fireplace at the other end of the room.

"Thanks," Ralsei replied to the Rabbick. "I just ate, but Kris might still be hungry." He turned towards Kris. "Would you like to eat again?"

"Sure."

The Rabbick hurried off to the kitchen to cook up a meal, dust covering the floor where its feet tread. Ralsei took Kris's hand and led him to a seat by the round table. Kris blushed at the feeling of Ralsei's touch, a sweet warmth rushing over their head.

"This is my friend, Kris," Ralsei introduced.

Kris was greeted by a chorus of hello's. "Hi, everyone," they replied. "So, what do you do around here?"

"We write books, of course," the Bloxer from earlier answered. "Some of us copy books written by other authors so they can be sold to different people." He gestured towards the two Ponmen playing their game of chess. One of them turned its eye around and nodded.

Kris found the idea of copying entire books by hand to be mindnumbingly boring. "Do you make money by copying books?"

"That's where most of our revenue comes from," a Jigsawry said. "We copy and sell not just stories, but manuals, textbooks, recipe books, brochures, journals, encyclopedias, maps...you name it, we've got someone who can work on it."

"Writing our own stories is more like a side job," the Bloxer added. "Most original fiction doesn't sell well. It's rare for a story we publish to become a bestseller, but when it happens, the whole guild celebrates."

"Like the tutorials I made!" the Jigsawry said.

"Oh, shut up," the Bloxer retorted, his top half nearly sliding off in incredulity. "No one bought your tutorials at all."

"Yeah, but I made one hundred dark dollars from donations."

The rabbick came back to the room with a plate of steaming hot eggs, spinach, and waffles, placing it in front of Kris. "Enjoy!"

"Thanks a lot."

"By the way, have you read anything Ralsei wrote?" the Rabbick asked them.

"What did he write?"

Ralsei blushed extremely deeply and hid his face with his hands. "No, don't!"

"Ralsei writes 'story continuation's," the Rabbick replied with an evil smirk. "That's when you like a story another author wrote so much, you continue the plot past the ending!"

"Interesting."

Kris remembered hearing about a website that some students at their school used to publish fan stories online, but they couldn't remember the exact name. 'Chives of our own' or something like that. "Ralsei, which stories did you continue?"

Ralsei buried his face into his scarf. "...The story you just read."

"The Legend of Mount Ebott? Really?"

"Yeah, you should read them sometime!" the Rabbick said. "Especially the one where the two skeleton brothers-"

"Ahhhhh!" Ralsei shouted, jumping up from his seat. The blush on his cheeks grew so deep that even the shadows covering his face were turning red. "Maybe I shouldn't have come here today..."

The table erupted into laughter. "Come on, Ralsei," the Bloxer said. "We all know your stories make the most money out of any of us."

"Y-Yeah, b-but I don't want Kris to read them..."

"I won't judge. I promise!" Kris said.

"Let's get going," Ralsei argued, already turning for the door.

"Wait. I haven't even eaten yet."

Ralsei snapped his fingers, and glittering magical energy surrounded the plate of food. An instant later, it all became packaged together in a nice, warm box, which he picked up.

"Wow. That's a really nice spell," Kris said.

Ralsei smiled. "I've got lots of useful spells like that. Anyway, let's continue our tour." He grabbed Kris's hand and fled out of the writer's guild before anyone could stop them.

"Sorry, Kris," Ralsei said once they were outside. "It's just...ummm...some of the stories I wrote are...errhh, they aren't exactly for your age."

A question popped up in Kris's head that they'd been dying to know the answer to. "Ralsei, excuse me for asking this, but...could you tell me how old you are?"

In response, Ralsei simply smiled. "I don't really remember."

"Huh. You're that old?"

"No, it's not that I'm old. I just don't remember when I was born, and I haven't been keeping track of how many years have passed since I, well, became aware."

"Ah." A sneaky look came over Kris's face. "What do you consider to be the appropriate age for reading your stories, then?"

"..."

"They can't be that bad. I can tell you that my teacher at school writes and draws some pretty interesting-"

"Kris. You can read anything you want to read." Ralsei turned towards them, a soft smile accompanying his light blush. "I'm sorry for how I acted. I was just so embarrassed in front of them back there."

"It's okay, Ralsei."

"...If you really want to read my stories, I can show you where they are inside my room." Ralsei balanced the hat on top of his head and stared down at his feet. "Buried, errhh, at the bottom of my bookshelves. Under about three hundred other books. Where nobody can find them."

"You shouldn't feel embarrassed about the things you write."

"Yeah...I suppose you're right."

"But I'd rather read what you want me to read, Ralsei."

"...Thanks, Kris."

On their way to the library, they passed by a tall white building that smelled oddly of sweet lemons.

"This is the clinic," Ralsei said. "If you ever get sick or injured, Kris, I'll take you here. But I don't suggest coming to the clinic by yourself. The doctors and nurses...do strange experiments, sometimes."

"What kind of experiments?"

"I...don't quite know."

Kris sniffed the air. "Why does this place smell like sweet lemons?"

"Let's keep going," Ralsei said, taking Kris's hand and ushering them onwards.

They reached the library, a large wooden building almost the size of Ralsei's castle. Inside, Kris was greeted by the sight of dozens of rows of stacked bookshelves each over three storeys high. Stairs and ladders had to be used to reach the top of each row. Rudinns and Hathys rushed from bookshelf to bookshelf using the network of stairs to grab books for their customers, their footsteps creating a rhythmic metallic clamour interspersed with the sounds of flapping pages. A musty scent of old wood and dried ink hung in the air.

"Here is the library, where you can read and borrow books to your heart's desire," Ralsei said with a dreamy look in his eyes. "You'll need to get a library card first, though, before you can check any books out. But, you can also just use my card to check out the books you want to read. I suggest starting with the 'Folktales and Mythology' section. There are some really interesting stories there about the history of our world, about the age when Darkners and Lightners lived together. Maybe you can even find some stories about your world!"

"I'll think about it."

"I'm sorry, Kris. Do you think I overexplain things?"

"No, Ralsei. I really like it when you explain everything to me!"

Ralsei's blush came back. "You're so nice, Kris..."

Kris went with Ralsei to the Folktakes and Mythology section. To their surprise, they found several books about their world that matched what they had learned in history class.

"Mythological Monsters of the Ancient Land of Greece."

"Lightners in Medieval Times."

"The Monster Revolution: How Lightner Monsters Fought Humans For Equal Status."

"The Role of Monsters in Light World War Two."

There was even a copy of a book they had to read in class once, "Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Glyde."

"That's strange," Kris said, feeling goosebumps on their arms. "These books would fit right in with my world."

"Wow! They must be really well-researched," Ralsei replied.

"But...how are writers in this world researching my world?"

"Who knows?" Ralsei giggled as he filled his arms with a stack of books he wanted to check out. "They might have travelled to your world the same way you came to ours."

Kris couldn't believe it if that was true.

After browsing for a couple of hours, Kris decided that they'd just read the books Ralsei wanted to read. As they went with Ralsei to the checkout counter, they noticed a set of stairs leading downwards hidden behind a wall of bookshelves. Kris glanced down the stairs, but couldn't see the bottom. It was entirely too dark.

"What's down the stairs?"

"That's the old library archives," Ralsei answered. "No one really goes there anymore."

"Why not?"

"People who went into the archives say that they've heard weird and strange things down there. So, they barricaded the entrance door several months ago."

Kris raised an eyebrow. "So, we don't even know what's really in there?"

"I suppose not."

After Ralsei had checked out his books, they left the library and began walking to the final stop of Ralsei's tour of Castle Town, the tea parlour.

Like the writer's guild, the parlour was a nice, homely place with a warm fireplace and round wooden tables where customers could sit and drink tea. Kris sat down and opened up the box containing the meal that Ralsei had sealed with his magic earlier. Thankfully, it was still warm. Ralsei ordered two cups of hot green tea.

"So, how do you like my town?" Ralsei asked, smiling brightly.

"It's nice," Kris responded. They were starting to feel a little homesick, but they wouldn't give up living with Ralsei. "You sure have a lot of friends here."

"Thank you. I'm sure you'll be friends with everyone in no time."

Kris stared at the cup of tea, waiting for it to cool. "I hope the King doesn't come here."

"The King will have to pass through the golden gate first. His troops will have a hard time breaking it down...though, I hope it doesn't come to that. I wish we never have to fight."

"Me, too. But what if they do come to fight us?"

Ralsei's smile withered. Kris felt a pang of pain in their chest, and wished they hadn't said anything. The last thing they ever wanted was to make Ralsei feel sad.

"We'll defend our town," Ralsei said after a pause. "But I'll do everything in my power to create peace. I know they'll listen to me this time."

Kris tried to smile genuinely. "Of course they'll listen. You're so nice, Ralsei. No one would ever want to fight you."

"I...Kris, thank you."

"I'll help you protect this town, too. I won't leave your side until I know your home is safe!"

"Kris...I don't know how to thank you."

Slowly, Kris bent forward and placed their hands onto Ralsei's shoulders. He felt so fluffy and soft. Leaning in, Kris gave Ralsei a gentle kiss on the cheek.

The blush on Ralsei's face turned its redness up to maximum.

"Kris! I...you, I, I mean, thank you? I guess I've done it to you to, but I didn't know you felt the same way, so I..."

"Sorry. I mean, you don't mind, right?" Kris replied. "Sorry."

"N-No, it's fine! Nothing to be sorry about!" Ralsei smiled even as his blush grew more and more red. "Thanks for making me feel better, Kris."

Kris giggled. "No problem."

The waiter, a green Top Chef monster, came towards their table and whispered something to Ralsei. With a nod, Ralsei thanked him and turned to face Kris again.

"My scouts just came back," Ralsei said, his tone becoming more serious. "The King's minions have crossed Checkerboard Road."

"How long before they reach here?"

"It'll take them a couple of days at most to cross the Lavender Fields. Then...we'll have to wait and see what they'll try to do in front of our Golden Gate."

Kris blew on their cup, then took a small sip. The tea tasted fresh and light.

If it came down to it, they'd use their life to protect Ralsei.


	4. Flight

On their way out of the tea parlour, Kris tugged on Ralsei's sleeve and looked at him with pleading eyes. They were about to make a request that they weren't sure if Ralsei would approve or not, and if he didn't, they'd need a ladder to climb out of the hole they would plan on digging themselves under.

"Ralsei," Kris spoke, their voice soft and trembling. "Do you want to...hold my hand?"

Ralsei raised his eyes, light frozen in the depths of his pupils. "Kris? Are you sure?"

Kris nodded their head slowly. "I really want to."

"...You don't mind if everyone sees us holding hands when we're walking together?"

"I don't mind."

In a steady motion, Ralsei reached out his hand and gently clasped Kris's. Motion returned to the light in his pretty round eyes, accompanied by a smile sweeter than anything the world could ever offer.

Kris's heart jumped at the feeling of Ralsei's warm touch. They grasped his hand tightly, wishing that the happiness they felt in this instant could last for the rest of their life. Ralsei's glimmering eyes, filled with that cute, earnest glow, the lively enthusiasm of his smile, the light pink blush on his face – these were treasures, momentary glimpses into a bliss that Kris would forever hold inside their heart. The world couldn't possibly hold something so precious.

"Thank you," Kris whispered with an unfaltering grin.

"Ummm, Kris," Ralsei said as they resumed walking, hand-in-hand, "I didn't know you liked me so much!"

'Like' didn't come anywhere close to the feelings Kris held for Ralsei, but they weren't ready to confess the true extent of their feelings. Or maybe, their actions were confession enough.

"I like you a lot," Kris replied, still grinning without restraint. "You're such a good friend."

The blush was back. "Oh, I don't know what to say...but, ummm, do friends in your world really hold hands when they're walking together like this?"

"Yeah. It's a Lightner thing."

"That's really cute. I can't wait to see your world some day."

Kris felt a violent shock somewhere in the back of their head. Did they just lie to Ralsei?

After blinking a few times, Kris smiled again and nodded. "I wish I can take you to see the Light World, but I don't know how to get back to my world except through the portal inside the King's castle. Even if we get there, I'm not sure if you can go through."

Ralsei's smile diminished a little. "I guess I'm just stuck down here, aren't I?"

"Hey, this world isn't so bad. I like this town a lot."

"No, I mean..." Ralsei's blush rose to full force, a sight that could make Kris's heart leap into their throat. "Kris, if you decide you want to go back to your world one day, I wouldn't be able to come along."

"Ralsei, I wouldn't leave without you! I'd find a way for us to go back together. I promise."

Kris bit down on their tongue, wondering if they were being a little too passionate. They already knew that they would never leave Ralsei's side, but admitting that fact was a different matter. They didn't want to come off as pushy, or they might end up being the one who would be pushed away.

Ralsei's smile grew soft, and just a little sad.

They were taking a different route to get back to the castle so that Kris could see another side of the city. Earlier, at the tea parlour, Kris had heard the sound of flowing water and thought it was just someone pouring water inside the shop...a lot of water. As they walked along this street, they noticed that they were approaching a canal, and the deep stream flowing through the canal was the source of that sound.

Stairs carved onto the side of the cobble street allowed a person to walk down to the edge of the water. The canal wasn't large enough to allow any boats to travel through it, but on closer inspection, Kris noticed that monsters were fetching water out of the canal into sizable wooden barrels. The barrels were loaded onto large wagons and brought towards a residential sector of the town.

Ralsei stepped towards the canal, pulling Kris along with him, and waved his hand across the air. Sparkling white and bluish magic shone over the surface of the canal's water. His reflection on the water grew a little clearer.

"One of my jobs as prince of Castle Town is to ensure that everyone has access to drinking water," Ralsei explained. "Every day, I make a trip around the canals and purify the water with my magic."

"You're amazing," Kris replied, drinking in the sight of Ralsei's wavering reflection in the beautifully clean water.

"Thank you."

"How do you purify water using magic, anyways? Do you have to, like, clean out all the bacteria in it or something?"

Ralsei's expression was confused. "Bacteria?"

"Ummm, you know, the tiny little germs that can infect you and make you really sick?"

"Tiny...germs? I don't get it."

"Uh...Ralsei, what exactly did you do to the water with your magic?"

"All water comes from the fountains." Ralsei turned east, facing the direction that led to the King's distant castle. "The fountains come from deep beneath the Earth, filled with the holy power of the Delta Rune. Long ago, anyone could drink from the fountains. But, when the King...when he transformed the holy fountains into the dark fountains, the water became tainted. A lot of monsters grew sick drinking that water. That's why I have to purify it with my magic."

Kris stayed silent. The more they heard about the King, the more they wished that they had...perhaps, well, "dealt" the final blow to him during their battle. It wouldn't have been hard for Susie to do it, especially not after the King had betrayed them, betrayed Ralsei, who'd even healed him. Susie's kind side won out in the end, using Ralsei's pacify spell to put the King to sleep instead of killing him, but because of her mercy, the King was now out seeking revenge.

Kris knew they had no right to blame Susie. Neither did they have the right to take the King's life when he was at their mercy. Doing so would be stooping down to his level, breaking the promise they had made to Ralsei to show everyone mercy and kindness...and, worst of all, creating a world where might makes right. A world where it was kill or be killed.

Ralsei showed Kris a cherubic, just-pinch-my-cheeks-already smile. "Don't worry, Kris! As long as I do my job, people will be safe and healthy."

"I got a question," Kris replied, a troubling thought arising. "You said the water flowing through this canal comes from the fountains, right? Well, if the source of the fountains – the dark fountain – comes from the king's castle to the east...does this mean that there's a river that flows west past the Golden Gate into this town?"

"You're worried the King could use that river to bypass the gate, right?" Ralsei's eyes shone with confidence as he spoke. "Good thinking, Kris! Luckily for us, the river flows underground from east to west. The water in this canal comes from the exit of a cave in a field past the Golden Gate."

"The King's minions won't be able to use the cave to get here, right?"

"My scouts are guarding the cave in case they try, but we don't consider it a strong possibility. The inside of the cave is too small for any monster to fit through."

"That's good to hear. You really do have everything planned out, Ralsei."

"I have to try my best to protect my city. Thanks, Kris!"

Kris became cheerful again. They knew that as long as they were with Ralsei, everything would be fine. The sun in the Light World couldn't outshine the brightness of his smile.

The two continued their walk through the city, eventually reaching a bridge that crossed over the canal. Ralsei slowed his pace and came to a stop at the centre of the bridge.

Suddenly, he let go of Kris's hand, leaving Kris with a cold, nearly paralyzing sensation crawling up their abandoned arm.

"Ralsei?"

"Huh?" Ralsei replied, glancing over the railing at the edge of the bridge down to the water below. "I thought I saw something in the water."

"What did you see?"

Ralsei shook his head. "I couldn't see it clearly. But it felt like a person was standing there...rising out of the water."

Kris felt shivers down their spine. "Someone was rising from the water?"

"I can't say for sure."

"Who could it be?"

"I don't know." With a sigh, Ralsei turned around to face Kris and smiled once more. "Maybe my eyes were just playing tricks on me."

"Are you feeling all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Kris wanted to feel Ralsei's touch again, his warm hand, his soft fluff. They gently twitched their slightly paralyzed arm, willing it to come back to life and not be a useless limb.

Ralsei's eyes twinkled under the orange light of the street lamps lining the bridge. Those eyes were beautiful beyond expression. The smooth melody of flowing water and the featureless darkness of the town's empty black sky lent a mysterious atmosphere to their surroundings. Mysterious, and maybe a little romantic. The kind of atmosphere that was perfect for something surprising to happen.

Kris took slow, steady steps towards Ralsei, drawn by the charming light in his eyes.

The air was tense and quiet.

Ralsei locked eyes with Kris, an earnest smile on his shadow-covered face.

Kris leaned towards him...

...and nearly fell over as Ralsei suddenly jumped up onto the railing of the bridge. He looked down at Kris with the most mischievous grin.

"I just remembered," Ralsei said, balancing on top of the railing, "it's been a full day since you came back here."

"Yeah, so?"

"Can you believe you've been here longer now than when you came here the first time?"

"I guess, but I also slept here for a full night. How do you Darkners keep track of day and night, anyway?"

"We use clocks, with twenty-four hours for each day. There's not much rationale behind why we have twenty-four hours in a day other than tradition."

"Hey, in my world, each day is also twenty-four hours long."

"Huh...that might mean Darkners and Lightners really did live together in the past! Remember what Seam told us?"

Kris shrugged. "Aren't you afraid of falling into the water?"

"Don't worry." Ralsei began to hop and skip on the railing. Kris had to resist the urge to lunge at Ralsei and grab him before he fell down. They couldn't deny that Ralsei looked unbelievably cute, though.

The faint orange lamp light shone a whimsical grey silhouette behind Ralsei's frisky figure. He stopped dancing around and turned to face Kris with his arms on his hips, a playful smile adorning his dark, shadowed face.

"Kris. In your world, it's not always dark for all twenty-four hours, is it?"

"No, it's not. The sun makes the sky really bright for half the day."

"I've read stories that take place in the Light World. They say that during the day, the colour of the sky is blue, with big white puffs hanging above your head. Lightners can reach up and grab the puffs, and they feel just like cotton."

"Ummm..."

Kris would hate to ruin Ralsei's fantasy by telling him the truth about the clouds. They simply smiled, hoping that one day, people from their world could reach up towards the clouds and fall asleep upon them like they were soft, comfy mattresses. "Yeah. They're called clouds."

"Right. That was the name they used for those puffy things in the sky."

Ralsei faced away from Kris and looked out into the distance.

The light from the street lamps reflected on the canal's dark water created a quiet, serene glow. Without the moon, the Dark World felt much darker than even nighttime in the Light World.

"Tell me more things about your world," Ralsei whispered. "I want to learn about the place you came from."

"Well, everything's just...different," Kris began. "What do you want to know about?"

"Hmmm...how does it get dark in your world? Does the sky just switch colour from blue to black, like extinguishing the flame in a lamp?"

"No, it takes a bit longer than that." Kris laughed quietly, realizing that they had to explain one of the most basic facts about their world to someone who wasn't used to day and night cycles. "The sun is like a big, glowing fireball in the sky, so bright you'd hurt your eyes just by looking at it. During the middle of the day – we call it noon – the sky is bright blue, but as the sun descends, its colour changes from blue to orange. When the sun's about to disappear behind the horizon, the sky is full of pretty colours like red, orange, yellow, and purple. Eventually, the sky turns dark blue, and then, the stars and the moon come out. The stars are like twinkling lights hanging in the sky, kind of like the lamps in this city, except...they're much farther away. And the moon is this big, rocky ball that sometimes shows up as a full white circle in the sky, sometimes only as a crescent, and sometimes not at all. So even at night, it never really gets that dark." Ralsei's eyes gleamed with an earnest, almost childlike curiosity at hearing Kris's descriptions. "In the morning, the sun rises up from the horizon, and then the sky turns blue again."

"Wow! Kris, that means the sky in your world is like a painting. It's constantly changing colours."

"Yeah, a painting...you're right."

Ralsei's metaphor was one of the most beautiful images Kris had ever visualized. The sky in their world was a painting, one that never ceased to wash away its colours and repaint itself with each passing day.

"Do the clouds react at all to the sky changing colours?" Ralsei asked.

Kris thought about it for a second before answering. "Sometimes, the clouds get really thick, blocking out all the sunlight. When that happens, the sky turns gray, and then water starts falling from the sky."

"Water falls from the sky?"

"Yeah. It's called rain."

"Wow..."

"When it gets cold, the water freezes into little white flakes, and we call that snow. During a certain time of the year that we call winter, snow will fall from the sky and cover the whole landscape in white. It's...really pretty."

Ralsei's blush grew as bright as the sparkle in his eyes. "I have to see your world one day."

"I'll take you there!"

With a heartwarming smile, Ralsei stretched out his arms and began walking and skipping along the railing of the bridge again. "Thanks for telling me about your world, Kris. But I want to learn about your home."

"My...home." Kris felt a blast of guilt, along with a wave of nostalgic feelings.

"Yup." Ralsei gave a fervent nod. "What was it like?"

"Well...I live with my mother, Toriel. She's also a goat monster, like you. She bakes the most delicious pies, but I hate her snail recipes. My brother loves them, though. Oh, yeah, I have a brother named Asriel. He's also a goat monster. We grew up together, but recently, he moved out to go to university, and now I only see him occasionally. We were really close before, and we used to stay up all night playing video games together, like Super Smash Fighters...but, ummm, now that he's gone, I don't really have anyone to play video games with anymore. My mom doesn't really 'get' games. And I don't have many friends at school to hang out with, so I guess that's why I came back here to your world."

Ralsei obviously didn't know the meaning of everything Kris had said, but the shining light in his eyes echoed a sense of understanding. "Do you miss your brother?"

"I guess."

"If you don't go back home, wouldn't he miss you when he comes back?"

The guilt within Kris started to press down on their shoulders with the weight of a boulder. They took a deep breath, internally hoping – or wishing – that their mother would forgive them for running away.

Their life in their hometown was so lonely. At least here, they had Ralsei to hang out with.

"He'll be fine," Kris lied, trying their hardest to convince themselves that it was true. "My brother's probably made tons of new friends at university already. I don't think he needs me to be around anymore."

"But, Kris, you're his sibling. Wouldn't he still want to see you again when he comes home?"

Kris swallowed. "Well...we all have to make time for ourselves, right? When he went off to university, he left me behind to pursue his dreams, and that's fine. I understand. But that means he'd also understand if I can't be around all the time when he comes home, right? I have my own dreams."

"Your dream is coming down here to live with me?"

"...Yes."

Ralsei's blush grew another layer. "I...ummm...I'm really happy that you came back to me, Kris. But it wouldn't hurt to visit your old home every once in a while, would it?"

"Yeah, I should. But the King's blocking the only way back to my world, so I can't go back anyway, right?"

"I...guess..."

Kris wished they had at least left a letter to their mother explaining where they had gone. Though, even if they had written a letter, what exactly would they say? That they had gone into the interdimensional portal in their school's supply closet to visit their Darkner friend Ralsei, with no way back home except through the fountain-portal-thing guarded by the legions of an evil King?

Something started to ache within their chest.

It wasn't that they wanted to go home. They didn't particularly miss school, or their boring old town, or even their mother.

But, by coming down here, they had truly severed all ties to their old world. This world, this town, was the home that they belonged in now. Sooner or later, they'd have to justify their existence here. Maybe not to Ralsei, but to all the people that lived and worked and died in this town, people who'd demand an explanation for why they were freeloading in Ralsei's castle. They had to make themselves useful.

"Ralsei. While I'm here in this world, do you think I can find a job?"

"A job? Well, what can you do? Other than going on heroic journeys, of course."

"I, uh..." Kris had a hard time imagining marketable skills for this medieval-era town. "Well, ummm, I believe I can...read and write? Do some basic math?"

"Oh, that's great! I might be able to get you a position at the writers' guild! It doesn't pay much, but if you want a job, it's not a bad place to work."

Kris rubbed their chin. They'd never imagined themselves as a writer, but they did get an A on their homework essay once in English class. It could work out.

"Thanks! I'll take it. Can we go there now?"

"Wait a sec."

A glint flashed in Ralsei's eyes.

Before Kris could react, Ralsei plunged down from the edge of the railing.

Kris bolted towards where he'd just stood and raised their body onto the railing, ready to jump to save Ralsei.

A moment before he hit the water, Ralsei waved his hand through the air.

Streams of white and purple light materialized and coalesced into a familiar shape around Ralsei's body. Two wings; a white circle between them; three triangles, two turned upwards and the middle one facing down; they were encircled within a larger triangle with curved edges, its sharpest edge pointing downwards. The symbols gathered around Ralsei and stopped him from hitting the water.

At once, the wings began to fly, and Ralsei's body rose with them.

Held up by the strange white-and-purple symbol formation, Ralsei flew across the canal, waving his arm below him to bless the water with his magic. Every part of the stream that was touched by the magic particles descending from his hand became brighter, clearer. The light reflected from the water's surface grew into dazzling sparkles as vivid as morning sunlight twinkling on a lake.

The wings turned around and brought Ralsei's body back onto the bridge. As he descended, the colourful light and the symbols surrounded himself disappeared.

"That was beautiful," Kris said, breathless.

"Thank you! I'm sorry if I frightened you there for a second."

"Ralsei, what was the spell you cast? The one that created those wings and let you fly?"

"The spell? It's the holy magic of Delta Rune."

"You've mentioned that name before, and I've seen those symbols, too, but...what is it?"

Ralsei's eyes turned away. His shadowed face seemed to sink deeper into his big pink scarf. "It's...it's a spell that I just know, for as long as I could remember. Like the lullaby you heard me singing. No one ever taught it to me."

"So, you don't even know what it is?"

"Not really. But I believe the Delta Rune is the source of this world's fountains, a holy power that sleeps deep beneath the Earth. I've always been able to tap into its power to cast my spells."

"That's...interesting."

"Yep."

For the first time ever, Kris caught a strange tone in Ralsei's voice that felt a little off. A little distrustful. They weren't sure if they could believe his words entirely.

Ralsei's eyes brightened, and he smiled again. "Okay. Let's get you a job at the Writer's Guild, Kris."

Kris couldn't say no to that smile. "Sure!"


	5. Waterfall Cave

"Any friend of Prince Ralsei is a friend of our guild. You're hired!"

Before Kris even had a chance to explain their skills, they were offered a contract in what had to be the most flagrant display of nepotism they'd ever seen. Not that they were complaining. They were excited to start working on their first job and signed the contract immediately.

Kris sat down by the round table in the Writer's Guild and was offered two stacks of papers, an ink brush, and a bottle of black ink. One stack of papers looked to be a newspaper with headlines about the latest burglary in town, a house fire where thankfully nobody got hurt, reports on the King's march west from the scouts, a series of customer criticisms at the town library, and a promotion at the clinic. The other stack of papers was blank.

"What do I have to do?" Kris asked.

"That's tomorrow's news," the Bloxer that had given them the job replied. "You'll make one thousand copies of the newspaper to be ready for distribution to the public by five AM."

Kris's eyes were ready to bulge out of their sockets. "One thousand copies? Are you serious?"

"Oh, it might sound like a lot, but don't worry. Susan will be helping you!"

A black and white monster resembling one of those dancing ballerina-like figures Kris had met at the scarlet forest came to sit down beside them. Her ink brush was placed on top of her "shoulders", balanced by the rigid pose she struck.

"Hello," Susan introduced in a musical, sing-song voice. "I heard you're the newest member of the Writer's Guild. A friend of Prince Ralsei, no less!"

"Yeah," Kris replied, still trying to recover from the shock of the assignment they'd received. "Ummm, Susan? How am I supposed to make one thousand copies of this stack of papers before tomorrow morning?"

"Oh, dear. I just realized – you're human, aren't you?"

"Erh, yes?"

Susan dipped her brush into a bottle of ink and pointed the wet tip at one of the blank pages. She suddenly spun her body around, and in that one swift motion, an entire line of words was written onto the page. She spun again, as naturally as a spinning top, writing down a full line each time her brush dipped towards the paper in front of her. A light drizzle of ink flew through the air. In less than ten seconds, the whole page was finished.

"Humans are so slow at writing," Susan said. "I'll handle nine hundred and fifty copies, and you can do the last fifty. Sound good?"

Kris nodded, gulping.

With a writer like Susan, why did the guild need to hire a slow human at all? Susan could easily do the last fifty pages by herself given her lightning pace. But Kris didn't want to be a slacker on the first day of their job, so they got down to work without any complaints.

As they copied page after page of the newspaper, the latest reports from the scouts spying on the King's army caught their attention. Kris grew a little worried from reading those reports.

The King's minions were becoming frustrated at the lack of progress they'd made in searching for Lancer and Ralsei. They had searched under every leaf, every rock, and every blade of grass and still found no sign of their targets. The King declared that every area his army marched through was to be put under martial law. Any monster found to have been hiding information on the whereabouts of Lancer or Ralsei would receive no mercy, and any dissenters against his decision would do well not to believe his minions would even think about selecting that 'Spare' option when confronting them.

Since most of the Dark World was now under martial law, the bake sale in the forest had been closed, the ballerinas were forbidden from dancing, checkerboard road's flashing tiles now threw anybody that stepped onto them straight into Card Castle's prison (this had gotten a few of the King's minions to accidentally become locked up), and puzzles were increased to maximum difficulty under the jurisdiction of Rouxls Kaard. Strangely, this did not decrease the number of puzzles solved by monsters who were just passing by.

The worst consequence of the King declaring martial law happened to those whom the King had already suspected of being disloyal and untrustworthy. Several shops in Lavender Fields had been raided, their owners dragged out in handcuffs and their possessions stolen or destroyed. The King had personally interrogated the arrested shop owners on what they knew about his son or about Ralsei, and it was said that none came out from their interrogations the same person as they were before.

Lastly, a mysterious new figure accompanied the King on his march westwards. The figure wore a mask that never revealed their face, and they had advised the King on every decision he'd made, including the declaration of martial law.

Kris hoped nothing bad had happened to Seam, but the painful sensation in their gut told them that they were probably being deceptively optimistic.

"All done," Susan said, placing her last page on top of the massive stack of newspapers she'd created.

"I only just started my eighth..." Kris muttered.

Susan turned towards Kris with an expression on her dark, obscured face that could be said to resemble 'pitying'. "It's okay. I'll do the last forty-two for you."

"Really? Thanks so much."

A few (hundred) spins later, Susan finished the rest of the newspapers just as Kris was done with their eighth. They bound the whole stack together and delivered it to the Bloxer's office. Despite having done negligible work compared to Susan, Kris still felt a sense of accomplishment. Their first day of work was complete, albeit with significant help.

"How did you get so fast at writing?" Kris asked Susan as they left the Bloxer's office.

"Sorry, can't talk," Susan said, twirling towards the exit door. "I've got another job to do."

"Wait, really? You work two jobs?"

"Writing's just my part-time paid hobby. I've got a full shift at the clinic next."

Before Kris could say anything else, Susan had donned a white lab coat and shot out the door, spinning so fast even the door seemed to be spinning (and it definitely wasn't a revolving door as far as Kris understood).

To their delight, Ralsei was waiting for them at the entrance of the writer's guild. His cute smile washed away all of Kris's feelings of self-doubt and imposter syndrome. Kris wished they could give Ralsei a hug right here for the whole guild to see.

"How was your first day of work, Kris?"

"Not bad. I just made copies of tomorrow's newspapers. Do you know Susan?"

"Oh, that's the fastest writer at our guild."

"No kidding. She, erh, made most of the copies for me. I think I was supposed to be her helper, not the other way around..."

"It's okay. Not everyone can write at Susan's pace!"

"You can say that again."

Kris thought about the news they'd read from the scouts regarding the King's army. "By the way, Ralsei, the King's starting to act really crazy. He's doing a lot of terrible stuff on his march towards our town."

"I heard about it," Ralsei replied, his expression instantly turning glum. "I wish I could do something to stop him. Maybe, if I turned myself in..."

"Don't even think about something so stupid!"

Kris was startled by how desperately they'd said that. They sucked in a deep breath and tried to recover their former, more casual tone of voice. "Ralsei, if you turn yourself in, the King won't think about sparing you. Last time, they threw us in prison. Well, that was actually Lancer, but...you know what I mean. The King didn't even hesitate to try and kill us when we confronted him!"

"I know, but there has to be something I can do to help the people he's been terrorizing."

"Just stay here," Kris said. "We can't fight the King's whole army. Going out to confront him would be suicide. We should wait behind the Golden Gate, like you said earlier."

"That was before I heard about all the terrible things his army is doing."

"Still, what can we do to stop them? We don't want to have to fight, right?"

"Maybe, if we try really hard, we'll be able to convince him to leave peacefully."

"Well, the last time you showed the King mercy–"

Kris gasped and covered their mouth with their hands. Ralsei's eyes drooped down sadly.

"I'm sorry!" Kris said. "I didn't mean to say that..."

"It's okay, Kris."

"No, it's not. I shouldn't have said something so mean. I'm so sorry, Ralsei."

Ralsei raised a fluffy hand and patted Kris on the shoulder. "I know that what I did wasn't necessarily correct. My actions put us all in danger and nearly got you killed...I should be the one that's sorry, Kris."

"You didn't do anything wrong, Ralsei."

"No, I was wrong." Ralsei smiled in a halfhearted way. "You and Susie taught me that not everyone thinks the same way or believes in the same values. Not everyone will change their mind because you showed them kindness and mercy."

Kris shook their head. "You're the one that taught me how important kindness is, Ralsei. I shouldn't have said that there was no way for us to make peace with the King."

"Thanks for believing in me, but, for the sake of protecting my town, I have to be realistic, too. After everything he's done, the King probably won't accept peace right now."

"But we still have to do something to help the people who were put under martial law, right?"

Somehow, Kris had placed themselves on the other side of the discussion.

"Well...my scouts have been working to hide civilians who fear being arrested by the King. They've even been able to sneak some of them over to my town."

"Wow, that's great! But how did they manage to do that?"

Ralsei lifted his hand and pointed east towards the town canal. "Remember the cave I told you about, the one where the river comes from?"

"Yeah."

His voice lowered to a whisper. "There actually is a way for people to go past the Golden Gate, and it's by heading through that cave." The tips of Ralsei's lips fell down again. "Kris, I'm afraid I haven't exactly been truthful to you. I didn't want you to be scared of the possibility that the King could bypass the Gate. Even so, I'm quite sure they won't be able to find the route through the cave."

"Are you serious?"

"I...there's actually something I need to do," Ralsei said. "I'm going to head to the cave. Will you come with me?"

"Of course! I'll go wherever you need me to."

"Thanks, Kris."

Kris tried to muster up a smile. "I trust you, Ralsei. If you think there's no way for the King and his army to head through the cave, then I'll believe that they'll have to go through the gate."

In response, Ralsei simply blushed, narrowing his eyes in that oh-so-cute way.

After a quick lunch, they went out of town through the castle's front door and began heading east towards the Golden Gate. This time, after passing the training dummy, they took a detour north by climbing up a small cliff with the aid of Ralsei's magic, and eventually found the river beyond that flowed through the town's canal. By tracing the banks of the river east, they arrived at the entrance to a small cave. Five of Ralsei's scouts greeted him as they approached and gave the report that the King's army was still a day or two away from reaching the Gate, with no signs of them having found the cave.

Kris peeked into the entrance of the cave and saw total darkness. The passage within the cave quickly constricted into a tiny corridor from which the river flowed out of. Water also escaped from several other, even smaller tunnels outside the mouth of the cave, converging upon the river.

"Even a very small monster would have a hard time fitting through this cave," Ralsei said. He cast a spell that caused a glowing yellow orb to emerge in the palm of his right hand, filling the cave with light. "But what most don't realize is that the cave itself is a puzzle. It can be rearranged to form a passage big enough for most people to pass through."

"That's incredible."

Ralsei smiled brightly. "What makes the cave so secure is that the puzzle is very hard to solve. There's no way around it, either, except through Golden Gate."

Kris nodded in agreement. Outside, the stone walls around the mouth of the cave formed a vertical cliff that stretched up towards the lightless sky for as far as they could see. The walls extended left and right in all directions, breaking only at the Golden Gate, and they presumed that the walls also surrounded the rather creepy-looking area west of Castle Town, the place where they'd first woken up in when they arrived in the Dark World. Ralsei's town had to be the most impermeable place in this whole world.

"Even if someone knew the solution to the puzzle, they wouldn't be able to solve it without knowing a specific spell," Ralsei continued. He took a step into the cave and raised his hands.

"You don't need to demonstrate," Kris interjected. "I'm convinced that they'll have an easier time getting past the Gate than going through this cave."

"Actually, I want to show you something."

As Ralsei cast his spell, the symbol of the delta rune appeared in front of him again, a winged shield made up of white and purple light. The shield floated towards the wall at the other end of the cave. When it touched the wall, Kris began to feel the ground shake.

The wall began to move back, water pouring out of the space it once occupied, flooding the rocky floor upon which they stood. Kris's shoes grew wet, much to their annoyance. The wall kept receding, and a depression appeared in the floor where most of the water flowed into. That depression formed the real shape of the river that flowed out of the cave.

"Oops. Sorry," Ralsei said, blushing as he turned around to Kris. "I always forget that the floor will be flooded when the wall gets pushed back. I should've cast a dryness barrier first..."

"It's fine," Kris said, noticing a faint blue light coming from deeper inside the cave. "What's in here?"

"The secrets of Delta Rune."

Kris felt goosebumps. "They're connected?"

"The legends say so." Ralsei began walking ahead, the bright orb of light in his hand merging with the fainter light up ahead to create a particularly luminous glow.

Their shadows grew longer as they stepped deeper into the cave.

"According to the legends, the holy power of Delta Rune comes from deep inside this cave, within a place no one has ever found. That power is the source of the fountains that flow through this world."

"You didn't tell me any of that the first time I came here."

"...I guess I never got the opportunity to."

"So, the King is somehow polluting these fountains, turning them into the Dark Fountains, right?" Kris said. "Could he have found their source within this cave?"

"I don't think so," Ralsei said, putting on a slightly frightened face. "The King would need to possess the Delta Rune spells to even be able to enter this cave. I'm the only person, as far as I know, who can wield those spells."

"Huh. You're sure no one else can?"

"Well...I've never met them."

The blue light coming from up ahead began to overpower the light in Ralsei's hand, rendering it unnecessary. Ralsei put his spell away and let the natural light of the cave guide them. Kris heard the sound of flowing water...and a quiet, steady, drizzle-like rhythm that reminded them of rain.

They followed the light until the end of the tunnel, where the cave opened up into an entire subterranean ecosystem.

Beautiful waterfalls filled the environment. They fell into a glowing turquoise pool that emitted faint blue will-'o-wisps into the air, shining like ephemeral fireflies. Patches of solid ground covered in grass and purple flowers grew like little islands out of the pool, forming a path that they could take across the water by jumping from island to island.

The air was cool, fresh. Every little sound echoed, amplified by something even stronger than the towering walls of the room. Droplets of water fell from the ceiling and struck their faces with the consistency of a light autumn rain.

This whole cave was an undiscovered sanctuary.

"This place is beautiful!" Kris exclaimed.

They had to nearly plug their ears as their voice resonated across the entire room, growing into a boom as loud as thunder. "Sorry..."

"Be careful," Ralsei replied, grinning cheerfully. "The flowers that grow inside this cave are called echo flowers. Together, they can make a small sound ten, twenty times louder."

"Hey. I've heard of those flowers before."

"Yup. The very same echo flowers from 'The Legend of Mount Ebott' were inspired by the echo flowers in this cave!"

Ralsei jumped as his own voice was amplified by the echo flowers in the room, growing into a thunderous roar. "Ooops...sorry..."

Kris laughed quietly. "Does this mean the author of that story has been here before?"

"Most likely," Ralsei answered. "Actually, the reason why the islands in this room form a chain you can hop across is because many people have attempted to solve the puzzle of this cave. None have succeeded, but together, their efforts have created this half-solution we can use to get across this pool if we jump from island to island."

The distance between each island was about one or two metres, a rather formidable jump. Kris found themselves wishing that they'd practised harder at running jumps during track-and-field in their gym class.

"But if we can cross the pool anyway, doesn't that mean the puzzle's been solved?" Kris asked.

Ralsei shook his head.

Following Ralsei, Kris made their first jump onto the nearest island, falling into a heap of tall grass. The sound of their feet hitting the floor was amplified by the cyan-coloured echo flowers on the island, creating a louder racket that rang across the room.

"Let me help you," Ralsei said, smiling. He waved his hands through the air, and a white shroud surrounded Kris's feet. "Try jumping again."

"Thanks."

A few hours ago, Ralsei had used this spell to help Kris climb the cliffs beside the training dummy. The next time they jumped, they soared through the air, undisturbed by gravity until about a second had passed. The magic allowed their feet to glide gently onto the floor instead of crashing down.

Kris gazed into the glowing pool surrounding them. It was too deep to see the bottom.

"I guess swimming isn't the best option?" Kris asked facetiously.

"Many have tried and failed," Ralsei replied, eliciting a gasp of horror from Kris. "Ummm...I don't mean that they drowned. I heard most of them gave up after some weird monster smelling of onions grabbed them from beneath the pool and tried to make friends with them."

Kris raised an eyebrow. "I think there's one of those in the lake near my home town, too."

"I guess they're endemic to both worlds, huh?"

They giggled, trying to keep their voice quiet.

Several minutes and a lot of island-hopping later, the two of them reached the other side of the room, where they found themselves facing two doors. One was open, but the other was sealed shut.

"This will take you out of the cave to the other side of the Golden Gate," Ralsei said, pointing towards the open door on his right. "There's a chance that the King can use this door to reach us, but he won't be able to remove the wall I opened earlier unless he has the magic of Delta Rune."

"Not to mention he'd need to subject his entire army to island hopping...or make them swim, potentially risking an encounter with some onions wishing for friendship," Kris said, putting a hand on their chin.

Ralsei stifled another laugh. "At that point, the Golden Gate might be easier."

"What about the other door?"

A raindrop fell onto Ralsei's face. He blinked, and the smile on his face faded.

"We've never been able to open this door," Ralsei said. "This is the hard part about the puzzle in this cave. These two doors and the arrangement of the islands in the pool are connected. When someone uses magic to change the way the islands are organized, the doors here will either open or close. So far, we've found multiple arrangements that will result in the right door being open. But we've only found one arrangement that has even caused the other door to budge."

Ralsei raised his hands, and the symbol of the delta rune appeared above his head.

The ground began to shake.

Kris watched in awe as the islands in the room began to move around, creating giant waves and resonant echos louder than the rock concerts they used to attend with Asriel. Several islands merged together, forming circles and triangles and two other odd shapes they couldn't quite recognize. Splashes of water struck their body, but thankfully, none too heavily.

When Ralsei ended his spell, the arrangement of the islands was complete.

Familiarity dawned over Kris's face.

The islands formed the shapes of the symbols of Delta Rune: two wings, a circle between them, and three triangles below, the one in the middle inverted.

It wasn't a friendly arrangement for hopping across the pool, but now, the door on their left had changed, and the one on their right had closed.

Ralsei took a breath. "This is the only arrangement we've found that causes the door on the left to budge."

"But it's still closed."

"Right, but look a bit more carefully."

Kris stepped towards the door, noticing that at the centre of it, there were tiny holes that also formed the shapes of the symbols of Delta Rune. The spaces were so small that they couldn't even fit a finger through them. Kris traced the wings, the circle, and the triangles with their hand, wondering if there was a way to pry the door open.

"Those holes in the door only show up when the islands are arranged this way," Ralsei said. "We've never been able to figure out how to get the door fully open."

"Can't you...you know, use magic to blow the door open?"

"We've tried, but the door doesn't budge. Even the strongest spells can't create a scratch."

"So, what has to be behind it?"

Ralsei's eyes twinkled in the light of the glowing pool. "I believe it is the source of the power of Delta Rune. There is no other reason for why such a difficult puzzle would exist to guard it."

"Aren't there any legends or books or prophecies to explain what's behind the door?"

"There are none."

Kris sighed in resignation.

Ralsei was right. This cave held by far the most difficult puzzle they had ever encountered (and they'd thought math class was hard).

As the last echoes of their voices faded away, the room grew silent except for the sound of quiet drizzling. Kris turned back around to face the islands, staring at the blue will-'o-wisps that rose out of the water around them. Glistening turquoise light bathed the walls. The waterfalls continued to flow, unceasing.

They looked back at Ralsei.

A colourful light shone in Ralsei's eyes. Whether they were from the glowing water, or from somewhere deep within, Kris couldn't tell. His eyes were misty, almost a little teary. The more Kris stared into them, the more they felt drawn towards him, drawn towards the wells of his soul from which the kindness and happiness he had given them had sprung. Within those eyes hid a silhouette of Ralsei's true being, as soft as his heart and deeper than the oceans.

Ralsei faced Kris, blushing lightly. His hat and clothes were all wet from the drizzle.

Kris sifted a hand through their damp hair, feeling strangely elated.

"Well, shall we go back?" Ralsei asked.

Kris smiled. "This place is nice."

"You're getting really...wet, though."

"Reminds me of walking home on a rainy day."


	6. Fluffy and Sick

"Hey, Ralsei?"

"Yeah?"

"You were really cool inside that cave, you know? The way you used your magic to move all those walls and islands around and stuff. I never knew you had that kind of power."

"Awww, thanks, Kris. No one's ever told me that before."

"No one ever told you that your magic was amazing?"

"It's just not something I hear much from the townspeople. Everyone has their own skills and talents. I don't really stand out."

"You're awesome, Ralsei. No one has ever used magic as stunning as yours."

"Kris...you're being so nice to me."

"I'm just telling you what you deserve to hear!"

Along the trip back to Ralsei's castle, Kris wanted to sneak up to Ralsei from behind and grab his waist, wrapping him in a bone-crushing hug. Having experienced the same kind of hugs from Asgore before, Kris knew Ralsei wouldn't exactly appreciate that. But Ralsei was just so cute! He'd be getting a hug one way or another later tonight if Kris had their way.

First, Kris would wrap a neat little ribbon around Ralsei's hat. Ralsei would blush, his cheeks going pink. Kris would give his giant scarf a little tug just to see his adorable shadowed face look warm and snug. He'd be the fluffiest, coziest boy in existence. Ralsei would smile, showing two cute fangs, his blush growing ever redder, round eyes sparkling behind those glasses. Then Kris would pounce.

Oh, how good it would feel to wrap their arms around all that fluff!

This, Kris thought, was exactly how they were going to get a restraining order, or kicked all the way back to the Light World with "ENTRY DENIED" appearing over their head the next time they tried to go inside their school's supply closet.

Kris visibly shuddered at the thought of never being able to see Ralsei again. To never be able to touch Ralsei, or to hear the sweet sound of his voice.

When they walked alongside Ralsei, everything looked so much more colourful. A dull fog had been lifted from their eyes, revealing the hidden beauty of the world. They noticed the colours of each shop and building they passed, the contours of their architecture, the words displayed on their roofs with unusual interest. The smells in the air were always pleasant. They heard the voices bubbling up from the crowds and was able to pick up bits and pieces of every conversation, each spoken word resonant, every sentiment echoing through their bones. They were elated by these fleeting sensations.

Rouxls Kaard could call them a decadent worm and they'd nod and agree.

Back inside the castle, Kris was twitching with delight. Nothing occupied their mind except the thought of spending the rest of the day with Ralsei until they were too tired to keep their eyes open for another second. They'd do anything Ralsei wanted.

Somewhere in the back of their mind, a stern, motherly voice and a concerned brother's voice told them that their feelings for Ralsei were bordering on obsession. The same voices reminded them that their friends and their family missed them and couldn't wait for them to come back. Every second they spent away from home was a second of worry and despair they caused to all those who loved them on par with the misery they'd feel if they couldn't see Ralsei. The motherly voice grew angry and instructed them to do the responsible thing with a very hands-on-waists tone.

Kris knew they were on borrowed time. Sooner or later, someone – probably Susie – was going to come down here and drag their ass back home whether they wanted to or not. They'd be in for a scolding beyond any tongue-lashing they'd ever received from their mother, not even that time they tried to steal her car. It'd be weeks, maybe even months before they'd get to leave home by themselves again.

Months without Ralsei.

They couldn't accept that outcome.

"Kris, what would you like to eat for dinner tonight?"

"Anything," Kris replied, painfully aware that 'you' most likely wasn't going to be an acceptable answer.

"Want to bake a cake with me?"

"Sure! That sounds like a ton of fun."

Ralsei's smile reaffirmed Kris's resolve to stay with him for as long as they possibly could, no matter how much it went against everybody else's wishes.

They went into Ralsei's kitchen and began gathering the ingredients. It didn't take long for Kris to realize that the Dark World had a very different idea of what a cake was compared to back home. They expected the usual ingredients: flour, sugar, butter...instead, Ralsei took out a broken cake (this will take a while to describe. It's not a fully formed cake, but you can definitely see that it's a cake. It's just very clearly a broken cake. No, not like someone took out a piece and ate it. It's not an unbaked pot of batter, either. It's still kind of the shape of a cake, but no matter how you look at it, it just looks broken), began filling the broken parts of it with Dark Candy, Revive Mints, Hearts Donuts, Club Sandwiches, a Dark Burger, and even another cake (a Spin Cake by the looks of it). Kris helped him with finding each individual item, but was confused the whole time about what they were going to do with them.

Once Ralsei had assembled all the items together, stuffing each one inside the Broken Cake like he was duct taping the leaks in a pipe, he placed the cake onto a metal pan and put the pan into an oven built above the kitchen fireplace. He closed the door and waved his fingers in front of the fireplace, causing it to spring to life with a burst of colourful sparks. Kris watched with fascination as rainbow fire began to heat up the oven, and the metal pan within started to spin around like it was inside a microwave.

"Our cake should be ready in an hour," Ralsei declared, his eyes cheerful with anticipation. "What do you want to do in the meantime?"

"I'll do anything you want to do," Kris replied, gazing into Ralsei's beautiful eyes.

Ralsei blushed. "Kris, you always say that. I feel selfish only doing the things I enjoy."

"It's fine! I enjoyed baking this cake with you, reading books together, playing board games, exploring places. I think I just like hanging out with you."

Kris's eyes were treated to the spectacle of a new blush depth on Ralsei's face. It grew so deep and red that he suddenly sneezed.

"Oh, excuse me," Ralsei said, sniffing.

"You feeling okay?"

"Yeah, don't worry about me." Ralsei tightened his big red scarf, squeezing his unbelievably fluffy cheeks. "Errh, do you want to play another board game?"

"Sure."

Inside Ralsei's bedroom, they scavenged through the thick stack of board games on his shelf and picked out one called 'Dark War: East versus West'. Opening up the game set, Kris found a folded map that looked remarkably like the world they had journeyed through. There was the lavender fields in the west, the checkerboard road in the centre (it looked like a bottleneck point), the scarlet forest in the east, and two huge castles at the lateral ends of the map.

Besides the map, the board game set featured a collection of familiar looking characters. At the west castle, there was a pink-caped hero, a green-robed wizard, and a purple warrior brandishing a large axe. On the east side, there was the King with his two mouths on his face and belly, the King's son (who wielded a lance and, disappointingly, had no motorbike), and a painted wooden action figure that was the spitting image of Rouxls Kaard.

Scattered across the various zones on the map were all the monsters Kris had faced on their journey to the east: Rudinns, Hathys, Ponmen, Bloxers, Rabbicks, etc. There were also a few shops along the way, their owners taking the appearance of sewn-together dolls.

"This game's pretty simple," Ralsei began, his voice sounding a little off. "We each control one of the two sides. Your objective is to make it to the other castle and capture it by taking the Fountain square. You can move any or none of your three heroes every turn by rolling a die. If you land on a square adjacent to an enemy, or to one of the enemy heroes, you'll engage in battle. There are different outcomes to each battle, all decided by rolling dice and drawing cards." He pointed to a stack of cards that came along with the die in the game.

Each card contained a certain action that could be taken, except the card titled "Rouxls Kard", which subjected the player who picked up the card to an irrelevant moving block puzzle (the card also requested that the player declare endless praise to the glorious Rouxls Kaard while solving the puzzle, but Kris saw that as entirely optional).

Ralsei began to explain the rules of battle and the three possible outcomes: defeating the enemy, sparing the enemy, or being defeated. A defeated piece was removed from the game. If the enemy was spared, however, then they will "join" the player who spared them by adding an extra die to their final roll at the end of the game. Hero characters that were spared remain on the same player's side, but contribute two die to the other player's final roll, except for the King, who contributed none.

"When your three heroes reach your opponent castle's Fountain, they'll have to roll dice to capture it," Ralsei explained. "The number of dice you roll per turn is three plus the extra dice from the enemies that you've spared. You'll total up the numbers you rolled each turn, and you win when your number exceeds one hundred."

"That gives me an incentive to spare everyone," Kris said, browsing through the deck to search for the valuable 'spare' cards.

"Actually...that's not always true," Ralsei said. "Let me explain each hero's abilities."

The heroes on each side were different, resulting in asymmetric strategies for each player. On the west side, the heroes favoured sparing their enemies. The pink-caped hero could convert any "attack" card to a "spare" card, while the green wizard could pacify an enemy, equivalent to sparing them, after they had fought for over three turns. The purple warrior, on the other hand, could not use spare cards at all, making her detrimental to a player that tried to spare every enemy they encountered.

On the east side, the heroes favoured killing their enemies. The King could convert each "spare" card to an "attack" card, and he had the unique ability of being able to attack his opponent's fountain when he entered their castle without having to wait for his other two heroes to catch up. Rouxls Kaard had the ability to summon an enemy onto the board and place it anywhere twice. The first time, the enemy was called C. Round, and the second time, it was called King Round. Both were two of the toughest enemies for the west side's heroes to get to spare.

The last hero on the east side, Lancer, also had an ability that was detrimental to the east side player. If Lancer ever encounters the purple axe warrior, Lancer instantly switches sides and becomes a controllable hero for the west side player.

"That about covers all the rules," Ralsei said. "Oh, and you can add extra cards to your deck by going to the shops on the map. You'll need to spend Dark Dollars to buy the cards, which you can get by defeating or sparing enemies. You get more by defeating them, though."

"Which side do you want to be?" Kris asked.

"I've always preferred the west castle's heroes when I play this game. Maybe this time, I'll try the east castle?"

"Okay."

As they began the game, Kris discovered that the journey of their heroes across the board was remarkably similar to their own journey across the Dark World. They grew the strange feeling that everything about their first visit to the Dark World had been scripted, almost as if none of their choices mattered.

They managed to spare all of the enemies they encountered on the board, even the C. Round that Ralsei summoned early to block their advance across Lavender Fields. Within ten rounds, they were able to get all three of their heroes across Checkerboard Road.

The same couldn't be said for Ralsei.

Despite playing the heroes that favoured an attack-heavy play style, Ralsei was committed to sparing every enemy he came across. This was much harder to do with the King than with Kris's heroes, as the number of 'spare' cards in the deck was much smaller than the number of 'attack' cards, and he couldn't convert any of the 'attack' cards to 'spare' cards. Ralsei spent all of his Dark Dollars on adding more 'spare' cards to his deck, a strategy that ended with him becoming broke by the time he crossed Scarlet Forest.

To Kris's luck, they were able to roll the numbers to move their purple hero right next to Ralsei's lance-wielding hero, robbing Ralsei of a playable character. Kris's heroes were also already approaching Card Castle.

"Maybe you should try using your attack cards," Kris suggested.

"Don't worry about me," Ralsei said, his voice turning sluggish "The King is a really strong hero. Once he gets into your castle, your fountain will be captured in no time!"

Kris had the weirdest sense that Ralsei was speaking a premonition. They quickly shook that feeling away, confident that the real King wouldn't be able to march his army through the Golden Gate.

"Achoo!" Ralsei sneezed.

"Hey, you've been sounding kind of sick," Kris said. "Are you sure you're feeling okay, Ralsei?"

"I'm fine, Kris–"

Ralsei interrupted his sentence with another sneeze. His cheeks began to glow pink, which could've been adorable if not for his extremely stuffed up nose and voice. Ralsei sniffed and leaned back to sit in his chair, pulling on his scarf.

"Let's...call it quits," Kris said.

"I'm sorry, Kris," Ralsei said. "I wanted to finish a game with you and eat our cake together once it's ready...but I'm starting to feel like I need a trip to the clinic."

"I'll take you there." Kris jumped onto their feet and stretched out their hand.

"Thanks, Kris."

They packed up the board game and departed back into the town behind the castle, though not before checking to make sure that Ralsei's magical oven wouldn't burn the place down while they were gone. Kris had to admit, the 'baked' cake smelled delicious. They only wished that Ralsei could be well enough to eat it with them.

"You must've gotten sick from the waterfall cave," Kris said as they walked. "It was cold and drizzling in there."

Ralsei seemed confused. "You can get sick from being cold and wet?"

"Ummm...is this another one of those 'human' things that don't apply to you?"

Come to think of it, Kris had never actually seen any of the monsters from their home town get sick before.

Ralsei tried to smile. "We monsters get sick when the power in our Soul diminishes, either from using too much magic or from exerting too much of our strength."

"Oh...I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"It's fine, Kris. I don't feel that bad, just a little weak from expending all my magic to move the islands around inside that cave."

"So, it's not serious?"

"I can get better in a few days if I rest."

Inside the clinic, the sterile grey halls smelled of sweet lemon bread just like the last time Kris had been here. They walked up to the front counter and told the receptionist Hathy that the prince was sick.

Ralsei was immediately given a room on the second floor and offered an odd-looking pill that was said to diminish his magic powers so his Soul could recharge. He laid down on his bed and took off his hat and scarf, revealing his cute pink face and pretty round glasses.

Kris had to use a lot of willpower to stop themselves from giving Ralsei a squeeze hug.

"I hope you get better quickly."

"Don't worry. I will." Closing his eyes, Ralsei exhaled slowly. He pulled the blankets on his bed up to his neck, looking totally snug. "I can feel my magic powers fading a bit. The medicine always works."

Kris felt a bit scared. "It's not going to fade completely, is it?"

"No, of course not. The medicine can't overcome the full power of a monster's soul."

"I mean, but, what if, what if there was a mistake? What if they gave you too much?"

"Kris..." Ralsei smiled weakly. "I'm happy that you care so much for me."

"I'm just trying to make sure you're all right."

"I trust the clinic. They've helped me and everyone in this town many times before."

"Do you need me to do anything for you?"

Ralsei slowly shook his head.

Kris wanted to do something, anything, that could make Ralsei feel better. They'd never felt so concerned for another person in their life before.

They wished that their mother was here with her healing magic to help Ralsei recover...even if it meant receiving a face-melting scolding and being dragged back home by the ear afterwards.

"Actually, Kris?" Ralsei spoke. "Could you...could you scratch my ears a bit?"

Kris blinked, wondering if they had heard correctly. "Your ears?"

"Yeah."

They had to be dreaming.

Kris moved their hand over Ralsei's head and began scratching Ralsei's big fluffy goat ears. They went slowly at first, scared of hurting Ralsei, but when they saw the smile stretch across Ralsei's lips and the faint blush settling over his cheeks, they scratched Ralsei's ears more confidently.

Their scratching steadily turned into a caress.

Ralsei's soft, fluffy ears were irresistible. Kris sank their fingers deep into his fur, relishing in the warmth that Ralsei's body gave them. Their thumb stretched towards Ralsei's cheeks, hovering a bit below his closed eyes. With the gentleness of touching a newborn baby, Kris stroked Ralsei's cheeks. Each caress was filled with the greatest amount of tenderness and affection that they could give.

His blush grew deeper, and his smile more full.

Kris slowly moved their fingers up over to the top of Ralsei's head, where they could caress Ralsei's cute pink horns and lightly scratch his head. Their scratches drew a quiet giggle from Ralsei, a bubbly laugh without any words. His blush was fully red, overpowering his white fur.

As his giggle faded, he began to drift off into sleep.

"Good night, Ralsei."

Kris pulled their hand away from Ralsei, content with the amount of caressing they'd given him. They stood up from their chair and stretched.

How far was the King from their town now?

How was their mother doing?

Their brother?

Susie?

Kris took a deep breath, feeling that guilty weight returning to their shoulders and causing their chest to constrict with pain.

Looking over Ralsei's beautiful sleeping form, the question arose into their mind:

Would he be safe if they went back home?

Kris clenched their fists. The King and his army had to be stopped. Their rampage west had hurt too many people, put so many others in danger. Ralsei would never want to fight them, so why did they want to fight him?

They had to be stopped.

A strange resolve grew in their heart, in their Soul.

Kris took one last look at Ralsei and whispered a goodbye.

With determination surging through the very core of their being, they exited the clinic and rushed back to the castle, back to Ralsei's home.

Inside the keep, they found a sword and a shield, some protective gear, and some items to take with them, including a delicious and very much fixed cake.

Kris went out through the other side of the castle and walked east towards the Golden Gate.

They marched past the training dummy, remembering all the good times they had shared with Ralsei, the kindness Ralsei had shown them, his optimism and powerful spirit.

That power, the power that coursed through their Soul, would see to it that the King and his army did not step one foot beyond the Golden Gate into Ralsei's town.

Kris would stop them even if they had to kill the King himself.


	7. The Other One

Kris dashed across the tree-lined field of purple grass, eager to confront the King of Darkners in another climactic showdown. They'd made sure to close the Golden Gates behind them so that nobody could sneak through. The only thought on their mind was protecting Ralsei.

Since the King had made it obvious that he couldn't be trusted during their last encounter, the only way for Kris to protect Ralsei from him was to plunge a sword through his heart.

The armies of the King slowly came into sight as they sprinted through the Lavender Fields. Rudinn Rangers, Head Hathys. Kris had no patience for flirting or sparing this time around. Their sword was raised, bloodlust turning their eyes red. All the enemies of Ralsei had to be cut down.

The wind swept strands of dark hair across Kris's eyes and rustled the grass around their feet, pushing them on with ceaseless momentum.

Kris found the main body of the King's army camped around the first puzzle in Lavender Fields. By the looks of it, he was sitting inside a tent pavilion at the centre of the camp. There were hundreds, maybe even thousands of soldiers protecting his tent.

Kris would just have to cut through them all.

Without a moment of hesitation, Kris unsheathed their sword and charged into the camp. All the monsters instantly became alerted to their presence and began converging upon them. Swords, spears, staffs, magic, and arrows were drawn. Shouts rang across the camp. Kris kept their eyes focused on the King's tent.

The first monster, a Rudinn, charged at Kris with its sword and shield raised. Kris effortlessly deflected its blow with a fling of their sword. They didn't bother finishing the Rudinn off and continued charging towards the King.

Dozens of monsters stood guard before the camp's central pavilion. Kris didn't have time to turn around and see if there was still an exit behind them. They knew they had walked into the heart of the enemy's territory. Now, it was either fight or die.

Kris slashed and cut, thrust and stabbed, struck out at any monster that stood in their way. They felt innumerable blows dealt against their body, but registered no pain. Their goal of slaying the king to protect Ralsei overcame every other emotion in their mind.

Adrenaline surged through their veins, preventing them from feeling even an instant of weakness or fatigue. Every breath, every heartbeat, every pulse filled their Soul with power, their body with determination, and their mind with the urge to kill, kill, and kill.

They could no longer remember how long they'd been fighting, how many monsters they had struck down, or how far they were from reaching the King's camp. The only thing they saw was wave after wave of monsters steadily converging upon them. Each one struck down was replaced by two more. They were going to fight every monster in the camp.

The blows dealt against their body started to grow heavier, crushing. Their breath was struck out of their lungs. Their chest ached, their stomach churned. Their arms cried in pain when they tried to raise their sword. Their legs faltered and refused to take a single step forward.

The whole world was beginning to fade away.

Something exploded in their head. Everything went dark.

* * *

Kris awoke inside a dark room, their body so stiff that moving even a finger sent jolts of pain through every nerve in their body.

It took a while for their eyes to adjust to the darkness so they could see where they were. From the grey steel bars in front of them, they guessed they were inside a jail cell. The ground was hard and cold, covered in decaying brown moss and thick layers of dust. A faint and oddly familiar smell was in the air. Footsteps were approaching them.

Kris moved their hands to rub their eyes despite the burning pain in their arms.

When their vision cleared, they saw a freckled pink face with long, wavy purple hair staring back at them, teeth bared, eyes white with hatred. Spiked gauntlets adorned her arms. She wore a short violet coat, magenta pants, and black boots. The only feature missing from this familiar figure was a giant steel axe.

"You're finally up."

She grabbed them by the cuff of their shirt, picked their body off the floor, and slammed them against the wall, causing another wave of pain to ripple through their body. Their mind snapped awake. Instantly, they recognized who they were looking at.

"S-Susie?"

"You're damn right I am." Susie's eyes were filled with murderous rage. "Mind explaining why you just upped and left home without telling any of us?"

"I...Susie, I'm sorry, I–"

"You better be sorry. Do you have any idea the kind of trouble you've caused me?"

The guilt swelling inside Kris was the worst sensation they'd ever felt. All their power and determination drained out of them. They stopped resisting, their arms and legs going limp.

Words couldn't make up for what they'd done and how sorry they felt.

"I...I'm really sorry, Susie."

To their surprise, Susie dropped them back onto their feet. She still looked ready to bite their face off, but it was clear that there were more pressing matters on her mind.

"If you missed this world that much, you should've at least left a note to your mother before running away," Susie said, her anger-filled voice diminishing to a quiet seething. "That would've made things so much simpler for me. I could've come back here without having to explain to Alphys why there's a portal inside the school's supply closet."

Kris blinked. "Is she here?"

"No, just me."

"But, now everyone knows, don't they?"

Susie grabbed Kris by the cuff of their shirt again. "All thanks to you."

"I...s–"

"Don't say sorry again. Sorry won't fix anything. Do you have any idea what kind of situation we're in?"

Memories rushed back into their mind. They remembered charging into the King's camp, fighting off horde after horde of monsters, pain racking their body, their arms growing too tired to even lift their sword, and then, everything went black.

"Stop being so quiet," Susie spat. "Do I have to explain everything? You got captured."

"Wait." Kris gulped, hoping they weren't in for a face-chewing. "Susie, you got caught, too?"

"What does it look like?"

Kris grimaced. "Yeah, I guess that was obvious."

"I got captured before you. They threw you in with me a few hours ago."

"Hold on...what?"

"We were looking for you, numbskull. Lancer thought the King had captured you for sure. He came up with the plan to break you out of jail by flooring it through the army camp." Susie groaned, a defeated look in her eyes. "We didn't find you, and we got caught instead."

"Lancer? You found him?"

"He's..."

A faint red glow appeared over Susie's cheeks. "Look, I know we're supposed to be friends and stuff, but...I was more worried about Lancer at the time, okay? When I came back to this world, I heard the King was looking for him and Ralsei. Even though I was supposed to find you and bring you back home, I, I..."

Kris felt that if Ralsei was here, he'd be blushing unimaginably hard at the concern Susie had for Lancer. "You looked for him first."

"Yes, I know, okay?"

Susie shoved Kris up against the wall again, lighter than last time. "Well, what were YOU doing this whole time?"

"Ummm..."

"Did you find Ralsei?"

Kris swallowed. If they admitted they'd been hanging out with Ralsei inside his castle this whole time, they might expose him to further danger. On the other hand, not telling Susie the truth would result in dire consequences later. "I, errhh..."

"Well?"

"He's...he should be safe. Uh, where's Lancer right now?"

For a brief second, a glimmer of sadness flashed through Susie's eyes. Her grip on the cuff of Kris's shirt grew tighter, her knuckles turning white.

"Lancer...Lancer has been captured by the King, and imprisoned in Card Castle."

"What?!"

"It's all my fault. If I hadn't agreed to his plan...he'd be, he'd..."

"Susie, it's not your fault. We could still save him."

"I'm going to save him!" Susie huffed, a bit of blush still on her cheeks. "But first, we have to find a way out of this jail. We're inside the army camp right now. It's a long way from Card Castle."

"Huh. No wonder this jail looks different."

Susie let go of Kris and turned away. "Seriously, Kris. How could you just run away from home without telling anybody? "

"I...I was worried about our friends here, okay? Y'know, Ralsei and Lancer. After we broke through the east fountain, the King's minions were right at the door. I couldn't sleep thinking about how much danger they were in."

"Well, you could've left us a warning, at least!"

"I know. I'm sorry, Susie. I'm really, truly sorry."

"Your apologies won't get us out of jail. Let's think of a way to escape this place."

Kris nodded. "Yeah, you're right."

Susie crossed her arms and tapped her foot, her face still turned away. "How did you get captured, anyway?"

"I...I was fighting against the King's army."

"Oh, was that why there was that loud commotion outside just a couple of hours ago?"

"Ummm, yeah, I think so?"

"Was Ralsei with you?"

"No, he–"

Light suddenly flooded the room.

The door into the prison burst open, and a figure Kris had never seen before walked in.

They wore a nondescript mask and a long, slender black dress that covered their body down to their feet. Equally black gloves and boots prevented any trace of skin on their arms or legs from showing. Their hair was white, cut in the same style as Kris's, but of the opposite colour.

"A pleasure to finally meet you, hero of light," the figure said, taking a mock bow.

Something about the figure's voice was inconceivably familiar, but it also felt off.

Susie sauntered towards them, arms raised to attack. "Who are you?"

"You aren't needed."

Before Susie could react, a flash of light pinned her against the wall. Kris gasped as they saw the recognizable two wings, circle in the centre, and three triangles, middle one inverted, emerge around Susie's body. But unlike Ralsei's version of the spell, the symbol that materialized over Susie was black and white, not white and purple.

"I've been waiting my life whole to meet you," the figure continued at Kris.

"What did you do to Susie?!" Kris demanded.

"Nothing too major. Now, if you don't mind, could you follow me to my chamber?"

"I'm not going anywhere until you free–"

An insurmountable force blasted every one of Kris's senses, overwhelming them with the most powerful magic they had ever felt. They could no longer move any part of their body. It was as if the whole world was pinning them down.

The Delta Rune symbol had materialized around their body as well.

"That wasn't a request, but an order," the figure said, before turning around and making for the door. "Now, let's take you somewhere where we can have a nice, private chat."

Panic surged through Kris as their body was pulled to their feet by an invisible force. They started walking after the figure against their will, suffused with the terrifying sensation that they no longer had control over any part of their body.

Kris walked up a flight of stairs and emerged into the tent pavilion they recognized from their charge into the army camp a few hours earlier. Briefly, they saw the King sitting on a chair at the centre of the pavilion, whose two mouths smiled at them as they passed by. Kris wanted to scream.

The figure took them into a side room of the pavilion that was walled on all four sides to prevent anybody outside from seeing inside. They shut the door behind them and forced Kris to sit in a chair, still unable to move of their own volition. It was a feeling beyond horrifying.

"Now that we're alone, I can give myself a proper introduction," the figure said.

Kris jolted forward as the spell that controlled their body suddenly relaxed. They nearly fell out of the chair, only managing to stop themselves a moment before bowling over.

"Who are you?" Kris asked, gasping for breath.

"Have a look," the figure replied, taking off their mask.

Disbelief shadowed over Kris's expression.

They saw their own eyes. Their own nose and mouth. Their own ears. Every contour of the figure's face matched theirs. Only the colour of their skin was different: crimson red instead of teal blue.

"Shocking, isn't it?" the figure said, chuckling slightly. "How does it feel to see yourself, Kris?"

"Y-You, you have to be lying..."

"I am Deltarune, the 'Kris' of the Dark World."

Kris wanted to jump at them, to pull at their face, to tear off their mask so they could see what lay underneath this hideous illusion. But before they could move an inch, they were pinned back into their seat by magic far beyond their own power.

"Let's start with my questions. I hope you'll be as cooperative in answering them as you were walking into my room," Deltarune said, snickering.

Kris found that they could still speak. "What do you want?"

"First, where is Ralsei?"

Kris remained silent.

"That's all right. We'll reach his town and lay siege to his castle soon enough." Deltarune smiled, relishing the fear that sentence sowed into Kris's eyes. "Next question: where does Ralsei keep the other half of the key that opens the sealed door in the waterfall cave?"

Kris's mouth fell open. "You know about that cave?"

"Of course I do. I'm Deltarune. You think I wouldn't know the secrets of a door with the symbol of the Delta Rune inscribed upon it?"

This was too much for Kris to handle.

Ralsei was wrong after all. The King and his minions did know about the secret cave that could bypass the Golden Gate. If someone as powerful as Deltarune was on the King's side, then Ralsei's town was done for.

Kris squirmed in a vain attempt to free their body of the magic that kept them pinned to their seat. Every vein and muscle in their body cried to be released from this spell, but to no avail.

"Well?" Deltarune spoke, leaning down at Kris. "What has Ralsei told you about that door?"

"I won't tell you anything."

"That's funny. You won't be saying that for much longer."

"I don't care what you do to me. I'll never tell you!"

Actually, Kris didn't even know what Deltarune was talking about. What did they mean by 'the other half of the key'? Ralsei hadn't been able to open that door at all.

Something lurched in the pit of Kris's belly, a feeling that they couldn't bring themselves to admit. They didn't want to confront it.

They didn't want to admit the possibility that Ralsei had been lying to them.

"Don't worry. It's not about what I'll do to you," Deltarune whispered. The grin on their face grew devilish. "It's about what I'll do to Ralsei once I find him. You won't hold back your secrets for a second when you find out what we'll do to the dear princ–"

"No!" Kris screamed. "Please, don't hurt Ralsei. He never wanted to fight you. He never wanted to hurt anyone!"

"Now we're getting somewhere," Deltarune said, cackling. "Let's see you the spill the beans, Kris. You know what will happen if you don't."

"I don't know! I don't know what you're talking about! Ralsei never told me anything about a key that could open the door inside that cave!"

"Hmmm...how smart of him."

"What are you saying? Ralsei would never lie to me!"

"A prince has his subjects to protect. Of course he'd lie to you if it meant keeping his town safe."

"You're lying!"

"It seems like I'll have to capture Ralsei after all. In less than a day, the King will be ready to lay siege to the prince's town." Deltarune smiled again, turning back to face Kris. "I suppose, in the meantime, we can entertain each other."

The only thing on Kris's mind was to break free and sprint back to Ralsei's town to save him.

"You come from the Light World, don't you?" Deltarune raised a finger up into the air. "We Darkners, of course, want to bridge the gap that separates our two worlds so that we can go to yours and...well, I'm sure you have an idea of what we want to do there."

"Why is a human like you working for the King of Darkners?" Kris demanded.

"The King has given me access to the East Fountain. Through that Fountain, I can acquire unlimited power. In return, I will aid the King by destroying the spell that separates our two worlds. As the Dark Fountain rises, our world will steadily consume yours, turning places into anomalies–portals that will link the two dimensions together. I'm sure you're aware that you came here through one of them."

"...You know about the portal in my world?"

"Yes. It was pretty convenient that one of them is right inside your school."

"Convenient? What does that mean?"

"There's no need for me to tell you."

Kris felt the blood draining from their face. "You...you've been to my world before?"

"I had to in order to retrieve one half of the key that opens the sealed door."

"What?!"

Deltarune's smirk was really starting to piss Kris off. "It was nice visiting the Light World. Can't believe your mom's a goat, though."

"Shut your mouth!"

"That's not a nice thing to say to your other self, is it?" Deltarune leaned down and touched Kris's chin. Their fingers were warm, just like a human's. "If only we were born in the same world. Then, we could've worked together instead of becoming enemies..."

Kris discovered that they could no longer speak, which was a problem given how tired they were of Deltarune's pointless monologues.

"Alas, we're destined to confront each other. You, on the side of the Lightners. I, on that of the Darkners. Two humans, each born a world away, and now, we finally meet for a battle that will decide the fate–"

An earth-shaking explosion suddenly rocked the camp. Shouts arose from outside, including the King's voice, which was summoning his minions to his pavilion.

Another explosion blasted the camp, this time tearing the door into their room off its hinges and setting the left wall on fire.

Screams filled the air.

Streams of glowing orange flames crawled into the room as if they had a mind of their own. Like serpents, each rose into the air and lashed out at Deltarune. They were deflected by a barrier that Deltarune had created, a black-and-white Delta Rune symbol, and struck the other walls, setting them on fire as well.

Frustrated, Deltarune dashed out of the room and disappeared into the roaring fire.

"Kris!"

Susie charged into the room, and Ralsei came in right after her.

A mixture of awe, relief, and confusion surged through Kris.

"Kris, are you all right?" Ralsei asked, looking at them with terribly concerned eyes.

"I'm...I think I am?"

It took Kris a moment to realize that they were no longer pinned to their seat and that they could move their body again. Shakily, they rose back onto their feet. The heat of the flames surrounding them threatened to sing their hair.

"Thank you," Kris barely managed to say through misty eyes.

"We have to get away from here first," Susie replied.

Susie grabbed Kris's hand and pulled them out of the room.

The scene outside was pure and utter chaos. Monsters were running around with their clothes and weapons on fire, screaming. Most were looking for the King, who had evidently disappeared into the flames. Charred bodies were strewn across the purple grass. Several monsters were trying to save those who were too injured to move by dragging them away from the ceaseless inferno.

Kris staggered after Susie and Ralsei as they darted through the camp. Many glanced their way as they rushed by, but none gave chase. Kris noticed the fearful look in their eyes when they saw Ralsei.

The whole was melting under the heat of the flames.

Kris ran and ran, unsure of where they were headed, the only thought in their mind to follow after Susie and Ralsei. The screams, the crying, the shrieking and wailing and painful gasps that they heard around them was too much for them to handle. The heat and smoke scorched their lungs and made every breath a fight for life. Glowing red ashes and cinders encircled the landscape for as far as their eyes could see.

For the first time in a long while, they wished they were back in their comfortable bed at home, or in their mother's arms, where they were safe and secure.

A place where they belonged.

After running for what felt like hours or days, they were suddenly alone again. Kris turned around and saw the smouldering camp they had just escaped from, but no one was chasing after them.

"I...I have to go now," Susie suddenly spoke. "You two hurry back to your town. I have to save Lancer."

"You're going all the way over to Card Castle?" Ralsei asked.

"I have to break him out of prison!" Susie shouted, her face turning red.

"I understand," Ralsei replied with a solemn nod. "Go help him."

"Thanks for everything," Susie said, before turning to face Kris. "Don't get yourself captured again, you dummy."

"Errhh..."

"I'll see ya later!"

With that, Susie turned around and began running east, veering away from the camp. Kris raised their arm to wave goodbye at her, but she never looked back at them.

"Kris?" Ralsei spoke, facing them with downcast eyes. "I, umm..."

Kris turned towards Ralsei, an uneasy realization rising into their chest.

"Now you know what I'm capable of," Ralsei whispered, his voice so soft that Kris could barely hear. "When I found out you were captured, I ran out of the clinic to try and save you, and I–"

Ralsei broke down into a fit of coughs.

"Ralsei!"

Kris grabbed his shoulders, trying to steady him before he collapsed to the floor. Ralsei shivered, clutching his chest.

The guilt that came over Kris was worse than the guilt they felt for abandoning their mother. Worse than being paralyzed and unable to control their body. Worse than anything they could've ever imagined.

Kris lacked the words to beg for forgiveness.

"It's okay," Ralsei said, shuddering slightly. "I...I wanted to save you, Kris, even if it meant showing you my real magic..."

Kris knelt down. "I'm...I was so stupid and foolish, Ralsei. I'm so, so sorry."

"Kris, it's okay–"

"No." A hot, painful pressure swelled up their nose and into their eyes. "I really, truly messed up this time."

A salty bead streamed down Kris's cheek. They covered their face with their hands, too embarrassed and guilt-ridden to show themselves. "I'm so sorry, Ralsei! I'm so, so, so sorry!"

Ralsei clasped Kris's shoulder with his hand.

The gentle light in Ralsei's eyes grew sad, softer.

Kris cried, unable to take comfort in being saved by Ralsei. Not after what they'd done, how reckless they had acted.

"Kris...I haven't exactly been truthful to you, either."

Ralsei's grip on Kris's shoulder grew more firm, but it was still as gentle as any touch he'd ever given them.

"Come on, Kris. We have to go back home."

"...I'm sorry, Ralsei."

"That's enough sorrys, Kris."

Sniffing, Kris shakily stood up and tried to pull their gaze away from the ground.

Their teary eyes met Ralsei's bright and tender ones.

"I believe I owe you the truth," Ralsei said. "The truth about myself and the Darkners."


	8. The Queen and the Knight's Hand

The dimly lit halls of Ralsei's castle filled Kris with gratitude that there was still a safe place in the world for them to be in. Kris held back their tears as they walked down the familiar cozy corridors, past the garden of sweet-smelling yellow flowers, up the winding staircase that led to Ralsei's room.

Ralsei was willing to let them back into his home even after all the trouble they'd caused him.

"Would you like a bite to eat?" Ralsei asked.

"Thanks. I'm fine."

Kris did feel a little hungry, but they would rather starve than make themselves a bother to Ralsei again.

Deep down, Kris couldn't hide behind their illusions anymore. They knew they had done a terrible thing to their family and to their friends. They realized that they didn't deserve even an ounce of kindness after all the selfish and reckless things they'd done. Most of all, they understood that the path to making things right again wasn't going to be an easy one to tread.

Kris was buried under a mountain of guilt, and they accepted its weight.

The warm orange light of Ralsei's room took them back to the scene of the obliterated camp, the chaos of all the King's soldiers running away as the inferno consumed everything in sight. That such a power existed within Ralsei gave Kris a newfound appreciation towards him. Appreciation, and a sense of fearful curiosity at his true origins.

But they weren't going to forgive themselves for making Ralsei exert himself when he was already sick. They could never forgive themselves for forcing such a kind, peaceful soul to resort to violent means in order to save them.

"Achoo!" Ralsei sneezed. "Sorry, Kris. I'm still a bit under the weather."

"You've got nothing to be sorry about," Kris replied, bowing their head. "If anything, I'm the one you should blame for everything that happened."

"I don't blame you, Kris."

"Well, you should. I deserve it. I did the stupidest thing imaginable, trying to take the King's entire army head-on, and in order to save me, you had to..." Kris's words became stuck inside their throat as hot, wet tears welled up into their eyes again.

"Please don't cry, Kris," Ralsei said quietly. "I–I tried my best not to hurt anybody by directing my spells at the buildings instead of people. When I went down to save Susie, I only threatened the guards with my magic, and they were scared enough to let her go. I did sense powerful magic coming from that person in your room, so I had to ward them off, and I don't think they got injured."

Ralsei's eyes drooped as he spoke. Kris's heart felt ready to burst at the sight of him so sad. He didn't deserve any of this.

They wished they could rip their own Soul out as penance.

"I'm sorry, Ralsei. You were the one who didn't want to fight. You said nobody had to die. Yet, I..."

"Kris, I'm sure nobody died."

The sight of all those charred bodies made Kris doubt Ralsei's words. "But...all those monsters that were lying on the ground..."

"The fountain will heal them." Ralsei sighed, and the shadows surrounding his face grew darker. "But only water purified by my magic can heal the Soul of a fallen monster. The Dark Fountain won't help them recover."

"I see..."

Languidly, Ralsei sat down onto his bed and took off his hat.

Kris felt light-headed just looking at his beautiful pink fur and gleaming round eyes. They didn't deserve someone so pure and bright.

"I'll tell you the truth," Ralsei continued. "The real history of our world, without the embellishments of the prophecy."

"You don't have to if you don't want to," Kris replied.

Ralsei shook his head. "I believe you deserve to know."

* * *

"Long ago, all monsters and humans existed in the same world, without the distinction of Lightner or Darkner. But there was one thing that always separated humans and monsters from each other. Ummm, I hope you don't take offence at this, Kris, but...according to the oldest texts we have, while monsters were usually peaceful, humans would wage war and enslave each other."

Kris hung their head in shame. "It's still true."

"Oh, I'm sorry..."

"It's all right. Go on."

"As human societies grew larger, they also became greedier and slowly started to encroach upon the territories of monsters. They were only stopped because most humans were afraid of the magic that we monsters could use. But then one monster, the most powerful wizard in our history, made a startling discovery: the power of the human Soul far exceeded the power of a monster's Soul. The difference was so great that if a monster's Soul were to receive the same power that a human Soul has, their body would start to melt, as they aren't capable of holding that much raw power. Because of their power, humans were destined to grow stronger and stronger until even our magic wouldn't be able to overcome them one day."

Kris could see that Ralsei was growing uncomfortable at his rather unflattering descriptions of humans.

"Th-This is just what the oldest texts say!" Ralsei blurted.

"Don't worry. I'm not bothered or anything."

Ralsei blushed. "I just hope I'm not being too mean to you, Kris...

"It's okay, really! What happens next?"

"Well, the monster who made that discovery was called Deltarune. One day, he summoned all the monsters to his home and asked that they come with him to another world, one that was safe from humans. About half the monsters agreed to come with him, while the other half decided to stay. Deltarune couldn't persuade the ones who stayed to come with him, so he placed a curse on them: as time passed, their magic would grow weaker and weaker. But for the monsters that did come with him, he granted them a new world – the Dark World. His final spell was to craft his Soul into the Fountains that power this world, a source of eternal healing for the Darkners. And, well, as you might've guessed, the monsters that stayed with the humans became known as the Lightners."

"Wait a second," Kris interrupted. "When I got captured, there was a human who looked exactly like me – well, their colours were the opposite of mine, but their face was pretty much the same – and they said _their_ name was Deltarune!"

A puzzled look fell over Ralsei's face. "There was another human? Like, in this world?"

"Yeah. They had really powerful magic, too. I couldn't even move before you saved me."

"I...I don't think I've heard of them before." Ralsei pulled on his scarf, his cheeks growing more pink. "I'm a descendant of the ancient Deltarune. I don't see how he could still be alive...or why he would be a human."

"Huh. That _is_ pretty weird."

Something had felt off about the 'Deltarune' that Kris had met at the King's camp. Well, multiple things felt off about them, not least the fact that they looked exactly like they did, but here was just another item to add to their list of...offness.

"Sorry. Mind continuing?"

"Okay. In the beginning, we Darkners were very hopeful for our new world. Because we were finally free from humans, and all monsters' Souls have nearly equal power, we thought we could create a paradise for ourselves. A prophesied paradise called 'Angels Heaven'." Ralsei put his back hat on, shrouding his face again in shadows. "It didn't work out. In time, we chose a new leader to have absolute power, and he was named the King of Darkners. We were all his subjects. Terrible things were done by the King in the name of creating our supposed paradise...so much that the very name 'Angels Heaven' became more of a curse than a blessing. Hundreds of years ago, a group of Darkners led by my parents escaped from his kingdom, fleeing west. They founded my town and built the castle we're sitting in right now. The King was about to declare war on us, but was reminded by one of his subjects – the court magician, I believe – that only humans declare war on each other. Thus, a war was averted, and we were able to maintain peace between us...at least until now. As for my parents, I believe they passed away shortly after I was born."

"I'm sorry, Ralsei."

Ralsei shook his head. "It's okay. They left me with one very important relic."

Kris watched as Ralsei stood up from his bed and began to sing his lullaby, this time adding words to it:

 _Wings of dark and light joined as one_

 _Opens the sealed waterfall door._

Ralsei blushed a bright scarlet red. "I–I'm sorry for lying to you, Kris, about the sealed door in the waterfall cave. I...couldn't risk letting the King or his minions finding out the truth about the key. I'm really sorry."

"No, it's totally fine. You were right to keep it a secret from me."

Ralsei's foresight impressed Kris, but they were still angrier at their own stupid self for getting captured.

"I don't want to have to lie to you or to anyone else anymore. I don't...sometimes, I don't even want to be a prince. I'm happy that people believe in me and trust me, but I just don't want to be burdened with all my roles and responsibilities. I know it sounds selfish–"

"You're not selfish. You're the kindest, most thoughtful and caring person I've ever met." Kris smiled and placed their hand on Ralsei's shoulder, patting him gently. "Everything you've done has been so amazing. I think you deserve a break."

"...Thank you, Kris." With a terribly deep blush, Ralsei reached towards Kris and pulled them into a hug.

Kris knew they didn't deserve more Ralsei, but when he was right in their arms like this, they couldn't hold back.

They hugged Ralsei tightly, treasuring the intimacy that they shared, the warm affection that they reserved for each other. His bright, glistening eyes and cute pink blush were so charming. His fluffy clothes and his adorable hat felt soft and comfortable wrapped in their arms.

Kris smiled at the sweet, pleasant feeling of holding Ralsei so close, as if he was the only person in the world that mattered.

"I'll tell you the meaning of the lullaby," Ralsei said, gently parting from their hug.

"Take your time. Don't worry."

"I can't. I'm running out of time." Ralsei stepped back, turning his face slightly away from Kris. "I have to open the sealed door in the cave."

"You know how to do it?"

With a slow nod, Ralsei began to walk towards the exit of his room. "The lullaby contains the secret to find the key. The 'wings of dark and light' are the wings in the Delta Rune symbol, the emblem of my distant ancestors. But you remember the size of those wings on the sealed door, right? They were too small for any key to unlock."

Ralsei turned back around when he was at the door. "To unlock the door, we need a key in the shape of the Delta Rune that's just as small as the lock. And we can find it in the town archives."

"Archives? You mean, the library in town?"

"Yeah. When my parents were still alive, they sealed the basement to make sure that nobody could ever find this key, but we need to go back in there."

"Hold on. Why do you need to open that door now?"

Ralsei twirled his foot. "I have a feeling we need to."

"But what's even behind it?"

"I...I believe it's the origin of the Fountains of this world, the primal source of Deltarune's power. If I can have that power, I might be able to purify the Dark Fountain. Then everybody can be healed back to life again!"

"With that kind of power, you might even be able to bluff the King into surrendering."

"Errhhh...that's certainly _one_ way to achieve peace without killing anybody."

"It could work, right? We both want this war to end without any more people getting hurt."

Ralsei made an uneasy smile. "I just hope they're willing to surrender without a fight."

"I believe we can do it."

"Thanks. Will you come with me, Kris?"

"You don't even have to ask."

Kris remembered Deltarune, the human Deltarune, asking them where Ralsei had hid his key. They didn't want to make Ralsei worry by telling him about that, so they kept quiet as they followed Ralsei out of his castle and towards the library in town.

They brought along their sword and armour, unsettled by a strange feeling in their gut.

* * *

"Why is this place so dark? I can't see a thing!"

Inside the sealed archives underneath the library, the darkness was as dense as the shadows that normally enveloped Ralsei's face when he wore his hat. Kris imagined that nobody would be able to see their face either down here if they were being watched. They were unable to see more than a few inches in front of themselves as they walked through the labyrinth of bookshelves, guided only by the faint, glowing yellow orb Ralsei had summoned into his hand.

"The ancient scrolls here are extremely fragile. If I make my fire orb any brighter, I could accidentally set this whole place on fire."

"Can't you make it just a little brighter?"

The glowing orb shifted. Kris discovered that they could see marginally better, but still not enough to be able to accurately observe anything that was more than a single step ahead.

"And why are there so many bookshelves?"

"They say that these books contain knowledge that stretches even farther back than the creation of the Dark and Light Worlds, to the days when all humans and all monsters lived together in the same land."

Some of the history buffs at school would love this library, but Kris just wanted to find the key and get out before some nasty, creepy creature that was sure to exist inside this darkness bit their face off.

As they walked past towering wooden shelves overflowing with scrolls and heaps of tomes that could bury a person alive, Kris's ears started to pick up a distant sound. After a while, the sound revealed itself to be a soft rhythmic tapping against the stone floor.

They could swear that there were other pairs of footsteps following them, but every time they paused to turn around, they could no longer hear the sounds anymore.

"Kris? You hear that?" Ralsei murmured.

"Yeah," Kris replied, feeling more than glad that Ralsei had also picked up on the noise. They weren't ready to go mad just yet. "Are we being followed?"

Ralsei suddenly stopped walking.

The tapping behind them ended in a slight swoosh, like a dancer swinging their feet. It was no longer audible. Ralsei dimmed his light orb, reducing their visibility even more, and resumed walking at a slower, quieter pace.

"This l–library has never been opened in the past t–twenty years," he whispered nervously. "There shouldn't be anyone else down here."

"What if someone came in after us?"

"I think we would've seen a light appear from behind us when they opened the door."

Kris groaned. "I wish Susie came along with us."

"...Yeah, Susie would've made this place a lot less scary, huh?"

"She'd go charging straight at the noise and smack whomever was causing it before they'd even have a chance to say 'boo'!"

Kris made an angry Susie face, eliciting giggles from Ralsei.

Even in the overpowering darkness, Kris could see a light blush appear over Ralsei's cheeks. He was just too adorable.

"How far are we from the key, anyway?"

"It should be on the shelf right up ahead."

Ralsei stopped in front of the largest bookshelf Kris had ever seen. It towered so far above their heads that they couldn't even see the top. Fortunately, there was a metal ladder in front of the bookshelf that allowed a person to climb up to reach each individual shelf so they could browse the books there. Ralsei climbed up the ladder to the fourth or fifth shelf (he was really, distressingly high up, and had their only source of light, so Kris climbed up after him) and walked to the other end of the shelf from the ladder.

Kris had to carefully balance themselves as they walked along the shelf ledge, since the books to their right didn't exactly provide the most stable support to grab onto if they were ever about to fall.

"Here it is," Ralsei said, taking out a green book titled 'The Lullabies of Deltarune'.

"Is the key inside?"

Ralsei thumbed through the book until he reached a certain page. "Here it is!"

He took out a tiny black curved triangle that resembled exactly half of the Delta Rune symbol: a wing, a semi-circle at the centre, one triangle and an inverted right triangle at the bottom. It had been kept inside the book as a bookmark, albeit not the most easily noticeable one.

Ralsei raised an eye in confusion. "Wait...this is only half of the key. Where's the other half?"

Kris stared at the bookmark, just as puzzled. "Ummm...I thought we'd find the whole key here."

Ralsei frantically flipped through the other pages of the book, but failed to find anything else. "I really don't know what to do now."

Kris recalled Deltarune asking about where Ralsei kept the 'other half of the key', so it was possible that this was the other half that they were looking for. Yet, something else felt off.

Something about the bookmark felt just a little too familiar to Kris.

When they were young, their mother used to read books to them at night. Kris remembered thinking that somehow, she always knew how to flip to the right page where she'd last left off at even though she never used a bookmark.

After Kris grew old enough to read, they noticed that their mother actually used a very tiny bookmark shaped somewhat like a wing.

One day, Toriel confronted Kris with a request. _"Could you give back the bookmark you borrowed from me last Thursday?"_

 _"What? Mom, I never borrowed it from you."_

 _"Of course you did, dear. You asked me for it to help you keep track of important pages for your book report."_

 _"Ummm...what? I don't have a book report to do."_

 _Toriel had stared at Kris with the most befuddled expression. "But...honey, didn't you say you had a book report due this week?"_

 _"No?"_

 _"Don't lie to me! Kris, if you lost that bookmark–"_

 _"Mom, you can even ask my teacher. I don't have a book report to do!"_

 _Toriel's gaze became guilt-stricken. "Oh, I'm sorry, dear. I didn't mean to get angry at you. I–I must have lost the bookmark myself, and thought you or Asriel took it."_

 _"You okay, mom?"_

 _"Y–Yes. I'm sorry."_

Kris placed a finger on their chin as they inspected the key that Ralsei now held in his hand.

It was a perfect replica of the bookmark their mother had lost.

Their eyes suddenly grew wide.

Deltarune. They were Kris's clone, and though their colours in this world were inverted, it was possible that they wouldn't look much different from Kris did in the Light World.

They had said that as the power of the Dark Fountain grew, the bridges between the two worlds would form. And they had visited the Light World before.

"Ralsei," Kris whispered, their hands trembling. "Deltarune, the human Deltarune I met at the King's camp – they have the other half of the key."

"They know about this key? How?"

"I don't know, but...I think they stole the other half from my mother. Deltarune looks exactly like me, so if they went to my world and posed as myself to 'borrow' a bookmark from my mother..." Kris knit their brows in revelation. "A few years ago, my mother asked me to return the bookmark I borrowed from her. I didn't recall ever doing such a thing. It must be that the other 'Kris' came to my world through the Dark Fountain, stole my mother's bookmark while I wasn't around, and then brought it back here...back to the King."

Ralsei stared at Kris with incredulous eyes. "Ummm, what type of monster was your mother?"

"...Goat."

With a gasp, Ralsei took the key back from Kris. "So the original Deltarune never meant for the door to be opened. He left the two halves of its only key in both worlds."

"But now, both keys are down in this world."

"That means...it means the King and the human Deltarune know about the waterfall cave, and they intend to open the door."

An audible laughter rang out across the room, startling Kris and Ralsei enough to jump in fright.

"Well done."

A female voice, and it sounded extremely familiar.

"Who's there?" Ralsei asked.

Footsteps began to approach them.

Ralsei brightened the orb in his hand considerably, chasing away the darkness that permeated the archives. At last, Kris could see everything around them.

Standing at the bottom of the shelf was one of the ballerina monsters that Kris recognized from the Scarlet Forest and from the writer's guild in town.

It was Susan.

"You figured it out," she responded. "Our whole plan to acquire the source of the Fountains' power."

"What are you doing here?" Kris demanded.

"Sorry, but I don't have time to talk. Could you hand over that key? I'll let you go without a fight if you do."

Ralsei clutched the key tightly. "Susan...why are you sided with them?"

"I'll give you ten seconds. If you don't give me the key by then, I'll attack."

Kris unsheathed their sword, glad that they'd brought their weapons along, and stepped in front of Ralsei. "We'll never hand the key to you. You should return what you stole instead!"

"I see. No point in doing this peacefully, then."

The pen that Susan kept balanced on her shoulder suddenly cracked with magical energy. She began to dance.

At once, beams of swirling words shot out from her pen and blasted the giant shelf, reducing its first and second rows to dust. The whole shelf shook and began to topple over.

"We have to jump!"

Grabbing Ralsei's hand, Kris hopped down onto the wider ledge of the third layer of the shelf in time to avoid a stream of words that blasted the layer they were just on. As the whole shelf began to crumble apart, Kris jumped down onto the floor of the library, eliciting a scared shout from Ralsei.

"Please, don't fight!" Ralsei yelled. "Susan, you were a treasured member of our guild. I considered you a friend!"

"You considered wrong. I am the Queen of Darkners."

Ralsei drew in a sharp breath. "The Queen?!"

In response, she spun faster and launched another barrage of magical words at the two of them.

Kris darted in front of Ralsei and deflected the words with their sword. They dashed towards Susan, hoping against hope that there was still a way to end this battle without anyone getting hurt.

The pen flew off her shoulder and launched towards Kris, a deadly projectile. Kris managed to duck in time, but to their surprise, the pen suddenly turned ninety degrees in midair and shot down towards them, barrelling into their chest and knocking the air out of their lungs as they crashed onto the floor.

Magical words streamed above their head, ready to shred their face.

"It was nice meeting you," Susan said, leering over them with an expression on her face that could resemble a smile. "You tried hard, but like your writing speed, you were simply too slow."

Kris groaned in pain. "You're even stronger than the King of Darkners."

"Haven't you ever played chess? The Queen is a stronger piece than the King."

The floating words rushed down at Kris all at once.

A stream of fire disintegrated the words and blasted Susan back far enough to knock her into a shelf. The whole shelf burst into flames as books and scrolls crashed down on top of her. She was barely able to climb out of the way of the deluge of burning paper.

Kris wasted no time. They jumped back onto their feet and dashed towards Susan, pointing their sword at her neck before she could get back up.

"I don't want to kill you," Kris said quietly. "But I won't show you mercy after what you've done. After betraying your prince."

"Then kill me for my betrayal."

"No. I want you to tell us everything. The truth."

Susan made a face that could resemble a frustrated cringe.

The flames began to spread towards her.

"Susan," Ralsei murmured, quivering as he stepped up to her. "I...I also want to find out the truth. I didn't mean to hurt you, but you...you attacked us first. You understand, right?"

She struggled to back away as Ralsei walked towards her. Kris immediately followed after her, keeping the sword pointed at her face.

Something fell out from her back.

Ralsei held his breath as he picked up the other half of the key that had fallen from Susan. He joined the two keys together in his hand, forming the full Delta Rune symbol, hardly bigger than a blade of grass.

"Damn," Susan muttered.

Kris didn't falter. "Tell us the truth."

"Fine," Susan said. "I'll tell you."

The sound of burning pages filled the air.

"Shortly after the King signed a peace treaty with your parents, Ralsei, a strange thing happened. We found a human child crying inside the Scarlet Forest. At the time, Lancer hadn't been born yet. With...with no heir to the throne, we adopted the child and raised them as our own. That was when we discovered the power that resides inside a human Soul."

Kris wrinkled their nose at the smell of the smoke that filled the library. They knew who she was talking about.

"Think of the power we would wield if we monsters had the power of a human Soul," Susan said, her voice growing a strange pitch. "It wouldn't look good on us to try this out inside our own kingdom, of course. So, our experimenters moved base. They sneaked into the clinic of your town."

Ralsei trembled. "That...THAT's what's been going on there?"

She laughed. "We drew power from the human's soul and injected it into monsters. Unfortunately, nearly all of them melted. It turns out the old legends were correct: monster bodies simply can't handle the power of a human Soul. We tossed out those useless white husks into the ravines west of this town. That was when someone most brilliant thought up of another idea: we inject the _human_ with a monster's essence instead. With enough trials, they'd gain our ability to use magic. And with the power of a human Soul, their magic would be unstoppable."

Kris could barely stop themselves from attacking her. The King and Queen of Darkners were truly in another league.

"He volunteered his own essence, of course. Ran so many trials that he grew insane. He started to say...funny things, so we relieved him of his job and made him the court jester. As for the human..."

Cracks resounded through the air as books were burnt to crisps, leaving behind nothing except for ash.

"Did you know that in Chess, the piece with the most unique abilities is the Knight?" Susan's face turned into an expression that looked almost deranged. "We finally created something that has never existed before: a human with the ability to cast magic. Their power was beyond anything ever known. They uprooted the earth and wrenched the ancient Deltarune's power out from the East Fountain, transforming it into the Dark Fountain, the catalyst that will bridge the gap between the Light and Dark Worlds. They hold in their Hand the spells of Delta Rune, stolen from the ancient wizard himself. Now, all we need to do is eliminate the West Fountain, and the Dark Fountains will rise to destroy the World of Light. We Darkners will rule the two worlds when they rejoin as one!"

"Stop!" Ralsei yelled. "How can you want something like this?"

"You cannot stop us. Our Knight is here."

Kris instantly crashed to the floor, their body held down by an unimaginable force. The black and white Delta Rune symbol materialized above their head.

"I've never seen bigger fools than the two of you," a voice just like Kris's spoke.

Deltarune emerged out from the darkness, garbed in black, their white hair and red skin glowing in the light of the flames. A vicious smile adorned their lips.

"You're Deltarune?!" Ralsei exclaimed.

"I am _half_ Deltarune," they responded, grinning. "My Soul powers only the East Fountain at this moment. When it is made the source of the West Fountain, then I will truly become Deltarune."

Susan jumped out from the burning pile of books and landed next to the Knight. "Took you long enough."

"Where is the key?"

Ralsei clasped it in his hands. "I won't give it to you."

"Oh?"

Deltarune held up their right hand, seething with magical power beyond anything Kris had ever felt. "Prince Ralsei. You don't want to see your dear town going down in flames, do you?"

"I will not let that happen."

Shaking, Ralsei stepped up beside Kris and waved his hand over their body. The Delta Rune symbol disappeared, and Kris felt that they could move again.

"Thank you," Kris whispered, getting back up with their sword.

"You're not making a very wise choice," Susan uttered dismissively. "Do you really want to fight here, where everything burns?"

"Please don't make me," Ralsei said, holding out his hand in front of him.

"Then give us the key."

"..."

A burst of fire shot off from Ralsei's scarf.

Deltarune's hand blasted out bolts of black and white lightning.

The two spells collided in a deafening, earth-shaking explosion that was nearly blinding. At once, the centre of the impact became a swirling inferno that immolated everything it touched. Piles of books and entire bookshelves were swallowed into the flames, disappearing into nothing. Streaks of lightning shot out from the inferno, coursing from shelf to shelf, wall to wall, covering parts of the floor and ripping apart the ceiling. Wood and cloth, vinyl and cardboard, metal and stone were all disintegrated alike into dust.

Susan turned away and ran. Kris chased after her.

The heat of the room became stifling as red and orange light enveloped everything. Shelves, walls, and the roof collapsed into debris. Smoke rose and covered everything. The inferno continued to devour.

As Kris ran, they were suddenly alerted to the sound of footsteps on water.

Following the sound and gasping for air, Kris found an opening in the wall of the library (it was a bit older than the countless other openings that were currently being created). Kris dashed through the hole and emerged into an underground tunnel flooded with water. They sucked in a deep breath of earthy air.

The sight reminded them of the tunnel leading to the waterfall cave as the wall receded, with water streaming out of gaps in the walls.

Susan spun away down this tunnel.

Before Kris could catch their breath, Deltarune suddenly emerged out through the opening they had just passed through, sprinting past Kris with Ralsei in chase.

Ralsei stopped when he saw Kris, allowing Deltarune and Susan to get further away.

"Where is this?" Kris asked.

Ralsei looked just as confused as they were. "I never knew there was a tunnel connecting to the sealed archives!"

"Let's see where it leads," Kris said, recovering their breath.

"But the library...it's all burnt away..."

Kris turned at Ralsei and saw the emerging sadness in his eyes. It brought a crushing grief into their own heart.

Slowly, they placed their arms around Ralsei's shoulders and pulled him into a gentle hug.

"I'm sorry, Ralsei."

Ralsei kept silent, only returning the embrace.

There was another explosion as the inferno continued to obliterate the room that they had just exited. The smoke was so thick that nothing could be seen through the opening. Ash and dust covered their faces.

"We can't stay here," Kris whispered.

"I...understand."

Ralsei revealed the key that he still held in his hands. "We can still get there before they do."

"Let's go."

Ralsei nodded.

Together, they ran down the tunnel, chasing after Deltarune and Susan.

The tunnel stretched on for a long time, and the depth of the water grew until it nearly reached their knees, slowing down their pace. They couldn't see the two whom they were pursuing anymore.

Eventually, a light revealed itself from up ahead, along with a noise of shouts.

Kris and Ralsei exited the tunnel and found themselves standing in the canal beneath the bridge in town. The canal lead up towards the river that flowed out of the waterfall cave.

"I...see," Ralsei whispered, his voice growing choked. "They were sneaking into my town through the canal all this time. Using the clinic to perform their experiments. All that happened while I was prince, and I never saw..."

"Ralsei, it's okay."

Ralsei clenched his fists and lowered his face. "All this time, I was just planning out my own adventure, creating a stupid prophecy, writing a story that didn't even matter..."

"Ralsei..."

He shut his eyes, a few drops falling into the water. "I messed up."

"We can still fix things," Kris insisted. "We can still stop them."

Ralsei's voice softened to a whimper. "I'm sorry."

Kris didn't know how to comfort him.

Wordlessly, Ralsei began running again, dashing through the canal. Kris followed.

Ralsei chanced a look back up at the bridge and towards the town. Tears shone in his eyes, reflecting bright orange light.

Above them, the whole town library was burning.


	9. The Soul That Split

"There's a fire over there!"

"We need more buckets of water!"

"Board this wall up now!"

"Save those books!"

"Can't you bring the water faster?"

"Put out the main fire!"

Ralsei rushed towards a burning shelf with a big sphere of water floating above his head, held in place by a Delta Rune symbol. The sphere splashed across the shelf, putting out the fire and drenching all the books that hadn't already turned to ash. A drenched book was better than a burnt one.

From all across town, people were rushing to the library with buckets and barrels of water to fight against the monstrous blaze. While most of the library had been destroyed, there were still books that hadn't been incinerated yet and everyone was trying to save them from destruction. Kris helped them by pushing the town's primary water reservoirs towards the library, and Ralsei used his magic to quench the biggest flames. Together, they had managed to get the fire under control.

Unable to watch his beloved library burn, Ralsei had opted to stop the fire instead of pursuing Susan and Deltarune.

Two hours later, the fire had diminished thanks to the whole town's efforts.

Kris was grateful that nobody died. When the battle underground began, everyone had heard the explosion and evacuated the library, so when the inferno reached the main floor, already most of the library was cleared. Only a few had gotten hurt, and they were quickly rushed to the clinic.

When the main fire was gone and people began working on putting out the smaller flames, Ralsei went to the clinic to investigate the experiments that Susan had mentioned.

To Kris's dismay, the scientists that had worked on those experiments had already left the town, leaving behind only workers who were oblivious to what had been going on. Ralsei still questioned them about what they knew, and most said they'd been told to "stay away from the basement rooms" when the main scientists had been there.

"I wasn't a good enough prince," Ralsei muttered sadly to Kris. "I thought everybody would get along with each other. But I should've paid more attention to what had been happening under my nose."

"It's not your fault, Ralsei," Kris replied. "You trusted the people in your town, and they betrayed you."

"They didn't betray me. The ones who sneaked into my town to perform their experiments are the real wrongdoers." Ralsei sighed. "I guess not everyone in this world will do the right thing when given the choice."

"It's okay. We just have to stop them before they hurt anybody."

Ralsei's eyes turned towards Kris. "You really believe we can stop Deltarune?"

"Of course! You're so powerful, Ralsei. Even they will have a hard time dealing with your magic."

"But...I'm worried that if I leave the town now, they'll attack while I'm gone. Isn't it too risky?"

"We have to try."

"Where would we go?"

"You have the key to open the sealed door, right? I know it's a gamble, but we might be able to find something really useful behind it."

Ralsei locked his hands behind his back and shifted his gaze to the ground. He didn't say anything, but simply stared at his feet, his expression growing more and more confused.

Kris knew Ralsei needed time to deal with everything he'd just seen.

It couldn't be easy being betrayed by someone whom he'd thought was a friend, learning that a whole host of atrocities had been going on right under his nose, and seeing the whole town library burning down. Kris felt tears coming into their eyes just thinking about how painful it must be to process all that.

They wished they could help Ralsei heal, but they knew that sometimes, nothing they say would be able to help.

Kris crossed their arms and leaned against a wall, a strange thought occurring to them.

When had they realized how important it was to give a grieving person space? That even their best intentions might not be good enough to help them recover?

Over the course of the days that they'd spent together, Kris had started to understand their own emotions better. Even though it had only been a couple of days or three, they had felt something stirring in their heart that they couldn't ignore or deny. It was a feeling that allowed them to comprehend why they needed to go back home and apologize to everybody for running away.

Ralsei's tearful eyes magnified that growing feeling.

Why was it that being near Ralsei made their breath short, their heart beat quickly, their body feel so hot? When they walked with Ralsei at their side the passage of time slowed and they tuned in to all of Ralsei's words, his thoughts and feelings. Ralsei's smile would be the brightest light in the whole world. It shone on their heart like a beacon through storm clouds, illuminating a hope that everything would be all right as long as he was there, as long as he kept smiling. Ralsei's happiness gave them a dream of a promising future where the light streaming through the clouds drew two silhouettes who were always smiling and laughing at each other's side.

Because Ralsei made them feel this way, they came to realize how cruel it was to leave their family behind without any warning. They had broken their mother's heart in a way that no one ever deserved.

Kris wouldn't forgive themselves for it, not until they made things right.

"I...I'll go to the cave," Ralsei said. He looked back up at Kris, sniffing. "As long as they're guarding the Dark Fountain, you won't be able to go back home, right, Kris?"

"I think so."

"Then I have to stop them."

There was a fierce glow in Ralsei's eyes.

Kris didn't know if any words were appropriate. They had never seen Ralsei so determined before. But they knew what they needed to do for themselves.

"I'll come with you," Kris said.

"You don't have to," Ralsei replied quietly. "You've been through a lot."

"I do have to go back home, and defeating them seems to be the only way."

"This could be extremely dangerous."

"It doesn't matter. My mind is set. I'll go face Deltarune, the Queen, and the King with you, Ralsei."

"...Thank you, Kris."

The light in Ralsei's eyes softened a little.

Right at that moment, Kris stepped towards Ralsei and enveloped him in a hug.

Ralsei's body grew limp. He sniffed, tried to speak, but only let out a soft whimper. Slowly, he eased into Kris, leaning his head against their shoulder. The next moment, tears were streaming down his cheeks.

Kris held Ralsei as he began crying.

"There, there. It's okay, Ralsei. It's okay."

Ralsei couldn't stop crying. Kris patted him gently on the back, understanding in that instant how important it had been when their mother had comforted them in her arms when they were crying as a child. Ralsei had never had parents. He had never had a shoulder to cry on when he felt sad.

Kris felt something hot and wet in their eyes as they imagined Ralsei growing up alone in his castle, a prince with no King and Queen. A prince that had never been loved.

They held Ralsei as he released all his tears, sharing his sadness and offering him their full love and support. They held Ralsei as the family he had never had, the family that he deserved to have.

Ralsei's hat tilted off his head as he cried into Kris's shoulder, freeing his heart of all the feelings that he had never been able to express.

Kris wouldn't let go of him. They would never let go.

Kris held Ralsei until his tears began to dry, his crying fading to little sniffles. Ralsei's short, choked breaths gradually grew slow and steady. With a deep breath, he leaned back and wrapped his arms around Kris's waist, gently easing into them to return the hug.

Underneath the shadow of a sky that saw no light, Ralsei and Kris shared their most tender embrace.

"I'm okay n–now, Kris," Ralsei whispered, still sniffing a little. "I'll be okay."

"I'm always here for you if you need to cry. I promise."

"...Th–thank you."

Ralsei slowly parted from their hug and looked up into Kris's eyes.

Kris saw Ralsei's eyes were red, along with a slight bit of pink over his adorable cheeks. He had a hopeful expression, with a tiny trace of a smile.

Ralsei wiped away the last bit of his tears and put his hat back on again.

"Let's go, Kris. Let's get you back home."

* * *

The Waterfall Cave was lush and damp, filled with faint will-o'-wisps rising out of the water just like last time. Seeing their beautiful teal glow light up the waterfalls and the moving gardens filled Kris with determination.

Ralsei took out the assembled key once he'd rearranged the islands into the shape of the Delta Rune symbol. He took a deep breath and held it as he brought the key up against the openings in the sealed door. Kris watched with nervous anticipation.

It fit perfectly.

"Now we'll finally see what's beyond the door!" Kris exclaimed, their voice echoing across the room.

"I'm worried," Ralsei said, leaning towards Kris to whisper. "What if Deltarune and the Queen are hiding nearby, waiting for us to open the door?"

Their plan had been to open the door, find the power of the West Fountain presaged to be hidden behind it, and retrieve it before Deltarune could come and attack. Earlier, Kris had brought up that they were inadvertently exposing the West Fountain to destruction by opening the sealed door, especially if Ralsei took away its power. It was very possible for Deltarune to confront them inside the cave. But they'd agreed that it was a risk they had to take if they were to have a chance of stopping the Queen and King of Darkners.

"We'll have to rush through," Kris said. "Get to the source of the Fountain before they do."

Ralsei gulped. "I hope we can make it."

"Don't worry, Ralsei. I'm sure we'll be able to beat them together!"

"Thanks, Kris."

With a steady hand, Ralsei inserted his key through the Delta Rune shaped opening on the sealed door.

There was a flash of bright white light.

Instantly, the door began to open, splitting into left and right halves that they hadn't noticed were there before. The ground began to shake with a resonant rumble. Waves grew and crashed against their island, and the water dripping like rain from the ceiling grew into a furious downpour. Kris looked around and saw that the will-o-wisp's had disappeared.

When the two doors had finally parted, disappearing into their surrounding walls, the cave suddenly grew deathly quiet. The waterfalls had stopped flowing, and the turquoise glow of the pond was fading into black. The grass and flowers that grew on each island were wilting away.

It felt like a spell had been lifted from the room. Like a long-unanswered puzzle had finally been solved.

"Let's go," Kris whispered, grabbing Ralsei's hand.

Ralsei nodded, needing no further explanation.

They rushed together into the darkness beyond the door, entering a long and narrow passageway that descended deeper and deeper underground. Kris heard noises behind them and quickly upped their pace, figuring that Deltarune and the Queen were already chasing after them.

Ralsei ran as fast as he could, even though his sprinting speed only just matched Kris's dash. Their footsteps created reverberating echoes across the tunnel. Kris could still hear something behind them that didn't sound like their footsteps. It actually reminded them a bit of a revving motor.

Panting and sweating, the two of them emerged out of the tunnel into a large, dark chamber lit only by a luminescence at the centre of the room.

It was a big, shining goat.

"Welcome," he said, his voice deep and resounding. "I am the creator of the Dark World and its Holy Fountains, Deltarune."

Kris and Ralsei took slow, cautious steps towards him. He was dressed in a long purple robe with the symbol of the Delta Rune emblazoned at his chest. A slight smile was apparent on his lips, so he didn't appear too threatening.

"You're...you're the soul of Deltarune," Ralsei said once they were standing in front of the shining goat.

"Correct. Ever since I created this world, I have vowed to protect it with all my power. Even after my death, my soul is bound to this world, to the Holy Fountains. I will disappear only when the Fountains are eradicated."

"You mean, when the Holy Fountains turn into the Dark Fountains?"

Deltarune nodded his head. "Precisely."

He sat down cross-legged on the ground and motioned for Kris and Ralsei to do the same. "As you probably know, that is already in the process of happening. The East Fountain is all but gone. The West Fountain still remains, the source of its power hidden in the room behind me. I will let you access it on one condition."

"We don't have much time," Kris said. "Can you make this quick?"

A glint flashed in Deltarune's eyes. "Play a game with me."

"What?!"

"A game is one of the best ways for different people to get to know each other. Don't you agree? When two people sit down and play a game together, they learn a lot about the way the other person thinks."

"I understand, but we're on limited time," Ralsei responded.

"Do not worry. When we play a game together, we exist in that game's world and nowhere else. The real world cannot bother us while we're playing. I will make sure of it."

"Ummm...okay?"

"Now, what would you rather play? A game of luck, or a game of strategy?"

A deck of cards appeared in one of Deltarune's hands. In his other hand, a collection of pieces from various board games materialized: checkers, chess, Go...

"I think I'll sit out," Kris said to Ralsei.

Ralsei turned to look at Kris, then back at Deltarune. "Strategy."

"All right. Which strategy game would you like to play?"

"What about Go?"

"Then we shall play Go."

Deltarune snapped his fingers, and a board appeared between them. A pot of black stones materialized by Ralsei's side, and a pot of white stones by Deltarune's.

"I will let you go first," Deltarune said. "Make your first move."

Ralsei nodded, and they began playing their game.

Kris watched as Ralsei and Deltarune played stones one after another onto the board. They began to grow enthralled by the patterns of white and black that emerged as the two of them tried to encircle each other. Ralsei was struggling to fully encircle a group of white stones at the bottom-left corner. Multiple other battles emerged across the board as Deltarune placed white stones elsewhere in complex formations that befuddled Ralsei and confused Kris even more. It felt like watching two artists attempting to paint a coherent picture, but with each painting into a spot that the other would rather have, as if they just could never agree on what the final picture should look like.

"I can tell what you're thinking," Deltarune spoke as he cut off one of Ralsei's groups. "You're worried that your enemies might already be here."

"Of course we're worried!" Kris responded, growing annoyed at the big goat. "Can't you tell we have an important job to do? You're the one blocking our way by making us play a silly game."

"You're worried about your enemies, but you must be even more deeply worried about something else." Deltarune's eyes grew laser focused onto Ralsei. "You're worried that in the upcoming fight, you might have to kill them."

Ralsei was about to put down a stone, but his hand froze in midair with a startled expression upon his face. "How did you know?"

Deltarune laughed, a deep and bellowing sound. "Our souls have a certain resonance, Ralsei. I can understand your thoughts just from the way you've been playing."

Ralsei sighed. "I know, and you're right. I'm afraid that with the power I'll gain from the source of the Fountains, I might...even if I don't want to fight, they'll still want to kill me. If that happens, my only choice..."

"Do you think that it's always wise to spare your enemies, Ralsei?"

"I don't want to have enemies. I just want everybody to get along."

"But you know that's not always possible."

"Even so, I want to solve all our problems without having to fight. I don't want to have to hurt anybody ever again."

Deltarune closed his eyes, his breath slowing down. He picked up a white stone, but instead of putting it down on the board, he merely fumbled with it in his hands.

"Ralsei. Do you know what you must do if you're facing an enemy that won't back down, that won't accept peace–an enemy hell-bent on killing you no matter how much kindness or mercy you show them?"

Ralsei raised an eye. "What must I do?"

"The foremost thing you must do is to prevent them from hurting anybody else."

Deltarune placed his stone down on the board. "Well, looks like I win."

Even Kris could tell that one of Ralsei's largest group of stones had been encircled.

Ralsei stared down at the spot where Deltarune had placed the stone, his mouth agape. But as he studied the board, realization slowly dawned upon him. Ralsei picked up a black stone.

"Deltarune. Is there any way for me to prevent the King and Queen from hurting any more people without having to kill them?"

"Yes. There is."

"Tell me how to do it."

Deltarune smiled. "You already know most of the answer, Ralsei."

"I do?"

"The power to stop them lies within the relic that's been passed down in each generation, starting from me, down through all my descendants, and finally to you."

"My...lullaby?"

"You're already aware of the magic within that song. But you haven't unlocked its full potential yet." Deltarune chuckled and began whistling the tune. "Over hundreds of generations, the lines in a song often change from its original form. But I can teach you the true lyrics."

Deltarune leaned towards Ralsei and whispered something into his ear.

With a nod, and then a triumphant smile, Ralsei placed his black stone down onto the board.

Kris stared in amazement, realizing that with that one stone, Ralsei had not only saved his own group from being trapped, but he had also directly encircled Deltarune's largest group of white stones.

"Well done," Deltarune said. "I knew you could see the right move. I resign."

Slowly, the board and the stones faded from view. At the same time, the room began to steadily grow brighter. It happened in such a gradual way that Kris had to wonder if the room had ever been dark at all.

As if playing a game had momentarily cut them off from the real world.

Deltarune stood up and turned to face the other end of the now-bright chamber. "I will now show you the source of the Holy Fountain. And when you see it, you will also bear witness to a much grimmer truth."

With his hands behind his back, he began to walk to the other side of the room.

"Great job, Ralsei!" Kris said, patting him on the shoulder. "I knew you could beat him."

"Thanks, Kris," Ralsei replied. "But it was a hard game."

"That doesn't matter. You won!"

"Yeah, I guess." Ralsei giggled. "Let's get going."

"Okay."

The two of them followed after Deltarune as he entered a smaller chamber adjacent to the one they had just been in.

In this chamber, a short altar stood at the centre of the room with a glowing sphere of light floating directly above it. Kris could see faint, transparent blue currents streaming out of the sphere. The currents reached the walls and the ceiling of the room, where they seemed to be transforming into droplets of water.

Deltarune stopped before the altar and bowed his head. "It was upon this altar that I committed the gravest sin. Even now, thousands of years later, my Soul will not rest to atone for my crime."

The room grew eerily quiet.

* * *

"To create the Holy Fountains, I needed a catalyst. A Soul. But a monster's Soul would not suffice in creating Fountains of eternal healing. What I needed was the power of a human Soul."

"When I created the Dark World, I – in secret – kidnapped a human and took them down into this World with me. It was with their Soul that I crafted the Fountains that would power the Dark World."

"Upon this Altar, I cast the spell that shattered their Soul. Their Soul split not only across space, but across time. The two halves would not awaken again for thousands of years. And when they do, one will be born inside the world of Light, the other in the world of Dark."

"Just as there are two Holy Fountains in the Dark World, there exist two humans who share the same Soul."

Kris trembled.

They couldn't stop shaking.

The words that they heard from Deltarune didn't make any sense, yet made perfect sense.

There was no way that what he said was true.

It had to be true.

But how could they believe it?

With slow, hesitant steps, they began to walk towards the fountain.

Deltarune kept his head bowed. "There is nothing that I can say or do to fix what I have done, Kris."

Kris opened their mouth, struggling to find words to speak. "How...could...you?"

The shadows surrounding Deltarune's face grew darker. He was no longer shining as before.

"Kris..." Ralsei whispered, stepping towards them. "I'm sorry–"

"No," Kris replied. "You've done nothing wrong, Ralsei. There is only one person I can blame."

Deltarune closed his eyes. "And I accept."

Kris unsheathed their sword, their hand still trembling.

They wanted to raise their sword to attack.

They wished they could plunge their blade straight through the monster that stood in front of them.

They wanted to end him in the worst possible way.

Ralsei looked at them with tearful eyes. "Kris–"

"No!" Kris shouted, lifting their sword up above their head. "How can this be possible?!" Kris marched towards Deltarune, sword pointed straight at his head. "How could you say that I'm another human from thousands of years ago?!" They stopped with the tip of the sword right at Deltarune's neck. "How could you kidnap a human child and shatter their Soul?! How, how, how could you?! How could you do something like that to a human when you made this very World to escape from them?!"

Deltarune said nothing.

Kris's hand shook so violently that they nearly dropped their sword.

"How could you ruin a child's life like this?!" Kris exclaimed, their voice growing high-pitched. Tears welled up in their eyes. "How, how, how could you erase me from the time and place where I belonged...?"

Their sword dropped, clattering to the floor.

Kris didn't know why they were crying for a child that they never knew.

They simply couldn't understand all the feelings that was rushing through them.

Suddenly, everything had made sense.

The fact that they'd been found as a human child crying on the wooded hills beside a monster town without any other humans nearby within hundreds of miles.

The fact that they'd never known their parents.

The fact that there was another human in the Dark World that looked exactly like them.

The fact that, from the very moment they'd woken up inside the Dark World, they'd felt like they were destined to come to this place.

Everything in their life had built up to this moment of revelation.

"How...how could you be so cruel?" Kris muttered, tears streaming down their cheek.

Deltarune spoke in a very quiet voice. "I know this will not make you feel any better, or make you harbour any less resentment towards me, but...during the thousands of years that I've lived, I have discovered that the possibilities that exist in the universe are endless. This is not the only timeline. There are countless others."

He turned his head to face the altar. "If you touch the altar, Kris, you will be able to see some of the other timelines. Perhaps, seeing the life that you would've lived had I not...shattered your soul, will make you feel a little better."

Kris didn't want to hear another word from Deltarune, but they considered his request.

The idea of seeing alternative outcomes to their life was actually very interesting.

Slowly, Kris turned towards the altar and walked up its steps.

They stood just a few inches away from the glowing sphere above the altar.

"Kris?" Ralsei spoke. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I–I am," Kris responded. "But I want to see what's inside this sphere."

"...All right."

Kris touched the sphere of light, and brightness consumed them.

They were being flung across the fabric of space and time. Their body floated through the eternity of space, everything around them a swirling mass of chaotic colours. But slowly, the chaos began to clear. Distinct, recognizable shapes formed out of the colours. Coherent scenes materialized before their eyes.

Kris reached towards one of the timelines and saw what would've happened if Deltarune had never created the Dark World:

A war between humans and monsters as the humans finally encroached upon monster territory.

Humans winning the war, and the monsters sealed underground by a barrier that could not be broken.

A child, wandering up a mountain, falling down a hole.

The child waking up to the friendly smile of a young goat boy.

A laughing, smiling family.

The child lying on a bloodied bed, coughing.

The goat boy carrying the child's body as they walked up to a field of flowers, only to be attacked by a crowd of angry humans.

The shock and horror of the family as the boy returned, gravely wounded.

An Underground devastated by an incomprehensible loss.

The King of the Underground declaring war on humans and reaping the Souls of six human children as they perished to his fire and to his trident.

A seventh child falling onto a bed of yellow flowers, meeting one that could speak and move.

The child facing a familiar mother who would not let them leave her home.

Two skeleton brothers meeting the child as they walked through cold fields of snow.

An armoured fish woman who tried to attack and kill the child.

The child appearing on television as they had a dance-off against a humanoid robot.

A King, determined to kill the Child no matter what...

Kris shuddered, feeling suddenly very uneasy about this timeline. They quickly backpedalled to look through a different timeline, but one which was very close to the one that they just saw (somehow they had a feeling that if they backpedalled too far, they'd see a much more different timeline).

The child, laughing and smiling as they went on a 'date' with one of the skeleton brothers.

A friendly cup of tea with the armoured fish woman who had just tried to kill the Child.

Another date, this time between the fish woman and...( _is that my school teacher?_ )

A creepy laboratory filled with strange, white amalgamations...

The child facing the King again, but the battle being stopped at the last second by the arrival of all the child's friends.

Then the flower revealing its true form.

The child fought and struggled, but could not overcome him.

But maybe, with what little power they had, they could SAVE something else...

As the child's blue-sleeved arms reached out to save him, another pair of green-sleeved hands reached for his Soul in atonement for the friend that they had hurt the most.

The barrier breaking down, the monsters finally set free.

The child standing on a cliff that overlooked a beautiful orange sunset, the wind blowing their hair across their eyes. They were smiling.

* * *

Kris smiled as well and let go of this timeline. They had seen all that they needed to see to know that in another timeline, they had a happy ending.

A lot of the characters whom they had met had been familiar ( _but seriously, why was my school teacher dating that fish woman who looks exactly like my town's local police officer minus an eye plus an eyepatch?_ ), chief among them being the child's mother.

She looked so much like Toriel.

Kris grew a vaguely nostalgic feeling as they tried to remember their earliest moments after meeting their mother, who had saved them by taking them in after they were found crying and alone outside town.

She would sometimes sing a song to them, a very familiar song, but Kris just couldn't remember its lyrics...

"Kris? Are you there?"

In an instant, Kris zapped back into the present moment as they felt Ralsei's hand touch their shoulder. Kris spun around to look into his pretty, glowing eyes, that tender blush all over his cheeks.

"I'm...I'm fine. Thank you," Kris responded.

Ralsei smiled. "Did you see yourself in another timeline?"

"Yeah, I think so."

Deltarune raised his head and slowly walked towards the steps of the altar. "I don't expect you to forgive me, Kris, but I know that in most of those other timelines, you live a happy life."

For some reason, Kris didn't even feel angry at Deltarune anymore. "I can believe that."

"Would you like to know your original name, Kris?"

"Sure."

"Back when you lived in the human world, you were a child named Ch–"

A bolt of lightning suddenly blasted Deltarune, causing his apparition to crumble and the light shining around him to fade away.

Kris and Ralsei turned towards the entrance of the room and saw the King, the Queen, and the human Deltarune marching in.

"Sorry to interrupt the chitchat, but we've got a Fountain to steal," Deltarune said, stepping forward with a triumphant smile. "I have to thank you for opening that door for us, but now your usefulness to us is up. Step out of the way, or I'll tear your Souls right out of your bodies."

Kris stood guard in front of the floating sphere of light. "You and I both know we're not going to give up without a fight."

"How bothersome," the Queen quipped as she spun towards them. "Do you insects ever give up?"

"We'll have some fun with them after we defeat them," the King said, laughing.

Kris wished they hadn't dropped their sword earlier. They could make a mad dash down the altar for it right now, but they could easily be sniped by their magic before they could reach it.

Ralsei looked at the three defiantly. "I won't let you get your hands on the last Fountain!"

"Oh? But it's three against two," Deltarune replied, raising their eyebrows. "Are you actually foolish enough to believe that you can stop us?"

"Actually," a voice shouted from behind all of them, "it's going to be three against three."

A motor roared.

Susie flew into the room on a motorbike, leaping over the heads of the King, the Queen, and Deltarune. She jumped off her bike in mid-air and landed gracefully next to Kris and Ralsei, axe in hand.

During the moment of distraction she created, Kris rushed down the altar and grabbed their sword. Susie's bike, however, was not so lucky as it smashed against the wall and exploded into flames.

"Uh..." Susie cringed. "Guess I'll have to get Lancer a new bike later."

"Susie!" Ralsei shouted, jumping up in joy. "How did you find us?"

"Right after I broke my pal out of jail, we were riding west back to your town when we noticed the King heading into this cave. 'Course, I couldn't just leave this bastard alone after what he tried to do to us last time, so I borrowed Lancer's bike and went after him."

Susie turned towards the King and raised her axe at them. "Hope you're not stupid enough to believe we'll be merciful this time around."

The King stepped forward, chain raised. "Where is Lancer right now?"

"Busy doing evil villain stuff, like, oh, _inciting a coup in your kingdom._ "

"He WHAT?!"

"It doesn't matter," Queen Susan said. "When we acquire the power of both Fountains, we will be unstoppable. All Darkners and Lightners shall bend the knee to us."

"Hey, Kris, who's these two?" Susie asked, pointing at the ballerina and the human.

"I'll explain later," Kris replied. "But we have to stop them."

"Then let's do it!"

Kris lifted their sword, Susie brandished her axe, and Ralsei raised his hands to ready a spell.

The King swung his chain threateningly. The Queen began spinning. Deltarune raised a hand crackling with magic.

"You fools just don't get it", Deltarune said, grinning maliciously. "By the time we're done with you, you'll be begging for death."

"No!" Kris responded, taking a step towards Deltarune. "You can't stop the three of us working togeth–"

"Oh, spare me the 'power of friendship' speech." Deltarune's eyes glowed with something powerful, something inhuman. Their voice deepened a pitch as an unstable, chaotic aura began to revolve around their body. "I'm going to show you the raw power of the human Soul."

Kris stared at Deltarune, their gazes unfaltering.

All of them prepared their attacks:

Prince Ralsei against the King,

Susie against Susan,

Kris against their other self-

Deltarune.


	10. Our Lullaby

Everything happened all at once.

Susie was the first to attack. She charged towards Queen Susan, axe raised over her head, when her legs suddenly collapsed and she became pinned to the ground by a black and white Delta Rune symbol. Ralsei waved his hand, summoning a wave of purple and white light to enshroud Susie, releasing her from the spell. Susie was quick to get back onto her feet in time to deflect a blow from the King's chain.

Kris's sword met a barrage of words from the Queen's spinning pen, blasting them with enough force to push them back onto the altar. The Queen wasted no time to charge towards them, spinning so fast that her body was just a dark grey blur. A wave of fire from Ralsei blocked her advance, but instead of stopping, she jumped into the air and barrelled down towards him.

Susie was already by Ralsei's side, sending the Queen a menacing swipe of her axe. As she warded the Queen off, she spun around and deflected the King's chain. Ralsei followed up by blasting both the King and Queen with a massive fireball.

The fireball fell against a wall of black-and-white magic and faded into nothing.

Kris dashed down from the altar and tried to stab Deltarune. Their other self turned around and, with a self-confident smirk, threw another black and white Delta Rune towards them. But Kris only felt the shackles of that spell for a moment on their limbs before it faded away. Deltarune staggered back as a ring of fire surrounded themselves, with an opening for Kris to charge through. Before Deltarune could run away to safety, Kris sprinted through the opening, sword aimed at Deltarune's neck.

The fires dissipated as Deltarune summoned up a swarm of black and white magic. Kris felt a spike of pain course through their body as a bolt of black lightning burst through them.

Ralsei was ready with another attack. He raised his right hand and sent a rain of fire falling towards Deltarune from the ceiling. Then he pointed his left hand at Deltarune and shot a superheated, spinning orange ball at them.

The Queen struck at Ralsei again with her pen, only to be countered with a blow from Susie. However, Susie's hands were suddenly tied together as the King's chain wrapped around her wrists. She kicked out at the Queen and jumped backward, attempting to free herself from the chains. With a greedy laugh, the King swung his chain to the side, hurling Susie through the air and smashing her against the wall. She howled in pain as she slid to the ground.

Ralsei clasped both hands together and formed a wall of fire in front of himself to halt the Queen's advance. To his shock, she spun through the wall, setting her entire body on fire. The large pen on her shoulder began firing flaming words towards him.

Kris was busy dodging bolts of lightning when Ralsei's rain of fire struck Deltarune, temporarily disabling all of their magic. The spinning orange ball then hurtled into Deltarune's back, causing their black robes to combust into flames. Kris didn't let them have a chance to recover before they plunged their sword through their chest–

Only to stop inches away from their target as a chain wrapped around their sword and pulled it to the ground. With a gasp, Kris struggled against the King's mighty strength to rid their sword of their chain.

Ralsei jumped away from the Queen's fiery words, then shot a fireball towards her. Covered in flames, she was spinning a bit too chaotically to orient herself and was struck square in the shoulder by the fireball. Her pen fell off her body as she collapsed to the ground, smouldering.

Susie struggled back onto her feet, grabbed her axe, and charged at the King. When the King saw her coming, he let go of Kris's sword and fired his chain at her.

Kris lifted their sword back up in time to block a blast of dark magic from Deltarune. Immediately after, Kris's body crashed to the floor as a black and white Delta Rune symbol materialized above their head, preventing them from moving a finger.

Deltarune shook off their burning black robe, revealing a bright green cape that was shaped just like Kris's magenta one. From the sheath at their waist, they pulled out their own sword, a razor-edged black one teeming with bolts of black electricity.

Susie had deflected the King's chain and lunged for his throat. The King blocked her axe in time, but the ferocity of her blow sent him staggering backwards. She swung her axe again, gashing him across the shoulder. With a roar of pain, he attempted to jump forward and bite her with the second mouth on his belly, but she was too fast. She evaded his blow and kicked him off his feet, sending him sprawling to the ground.

Ralsei conjured up a dome of fire to surround the Queen before she could get back up and start spinning again. A panicked expression came over his face when he noticed Kris lying on the ground, paralyzed by Deltarune's magic. He swiftly waved his hand at Kris, shrouding them in purple light that freed them from the overpowering spell.

Deltarune stepped towards Kris, dark sword raised. Kris jumped back onto their feet in time to meet them with their own sword.

Susie slammed her foot down onto the King's chest, eliciting another groan of pain from him. Before he could use his chain again, she slashed it into pieces with her axe.

With the Queen and King both immobilized, Susie and Ralsei turned their attention towards Deltarune.

"It's three against one," Ralsei said. "Just stop, please. We don't want to fight anymore."

"Or you can keep fighting," Susie shouted, bloodlust in her eyes as she brandished her axe. "If you want to lose your head!"

Deltarune gave the two of them a dismissive look.

Kris took advantage of this moment to sprint towards Deltarune.

Their swords clashed in mid-air with a force that surprised both of them. Kris stepped back and was met with another blow from Deltarune's razor-edged blade that nearly sent their own sword flying out of their hands. Tightening their grip, they struck again, but this time, their blow was effortlessly deflected. Deltarune's swordplay was much faster and much cleaner than theirs.

Susie charged at Deltarune, but missed their neck with her axe as they ducked. Deltarune darted back, narrowly dodging another slash from Kris. However, Ralsei was already behind them, hurling a spinning ball of flames. Deltarune leaped out of the way,and the fire incinerated their cape.

Kris raised their sword in the air and was pleasantly surprised by the spiral of fire that materialized around the blade, courtesy of Ralsei. They lashed out at Deltarune, their swords clashing together blow after blow, each trying their utmost to find an opening in the others defences. Susie hurled herself at Deltarune and caught them in the hip with the hilt of her axe. With a shriek, Deltarune kneed her in the belly, throwing her body to the ground. A blast of fire then caught them on the shoulder, and Kris followed up with a stab straight at their neck.

Blood flew into the air.

Somehow, Deltarune came out of both attacks intact, but blood was now streaming down their face and neck. To Kris and Ralsei's surprise, the smile on their face only grew wider.

"I'll take care of this," Ralsei said, clasping his hands together. "Kris, stand back!"

"O–Okay."

The power that Kris felt surging from Ralsei was unlike anything they had ever experienced before. At once, the room began to shake, as if smitten by an earthquake.

Rocks fell from the ceiling, leaving clouds of dust in the air.

Jets of water burst out from the sphere of light hovering above the altar. Streaming around each other like snakes, they formed a massive whirlpool floating near the ceiling. A pillar of fire shot out from Ralsei's hand and struck the whirlpool, boiling the water and filling the room with steam. Blue and red encircled each other, creating spirals of fire and water, all of which coalesced into a flaming tidal wave that crashed down at Deltarune.

The impact caused the walls of the room to shatter and the floor to split into multiple pieces.

Kris, Susie, and Ralsei each grabbed onto the altar as the walls crumbled and the floor gave away. The site of the tsunami's impact had created an enormous, steaming crater. They could no longer feel the ground as the crater expanded and the floor caved in. Within seconds, the altar that they held onto had become a tower of rock that stretched up fifteen or twenty feet above the new ground level.

Yet, when all the smoke had cleared, Deltarune was still standing. Their cape was gone, and their body was covered in blood and burns.

Their eyes were glowing with vicious satisfaction.

Kris felt a chill go down their spine as Deltarune's lips curved into another smile.

"A million monster Souls won't equal the power of my human Soul," Deltarune began to speak. "So, Ralsei, what will you do when I crush you like the little bug you are?"

The magic surrounding their hand began creating another earthquake.

"The old scientist who experimented on me had a particular phrase he loved to say: 'I can do anything!'"

A sphere of dark magic erupted outwards from Deltarune's body.

Kris's head was suddenly filled with searing, unbearable pain. Every nerve in their body seemed to be screaming. Every fibre of their being was shouting for the pain to stop, for the suffering to end. Waves and waves of pure, undiluted agony was coursing through them, ripping apart their skin, tearing their muscles, shredding their veins, shattering their bones. It was an endless, blistering torment.

"Or how about this? 'Chaos, chaos!'"

Orbs of darkness, each crackling with webs of black lightning, fanned out across the room and encircled the altar. All Kris saw through their unspeakable agony was a flash of light, and then the altar was completely destroyed. Their bodies hung like rag dolls in the air.

"You should never have resisted. Now, the Fountain's power is mine, and all of you – all Darkners and Lightners, the King and Queen, all humans and all monsters – all life itself shall bend the knee to me."

Kris couldn't take the pain any longer. Their vision went white. Sound faded from their ears, along with all their other senses.

The world was receding, replaced by numbing darkness.

* * *

 _"Kris?"_

 _"Mmm-hwa?"_

 _"Hi, Kris! You're my baby sibling, and I'm your new brother!"_

 _"rah...thur?"_

 _"Yep. As your brother, I'll be taking care of you from now on! My name's Asriel, by the way."_

 _"Ah...real?"_

 _"As-riel."_

 _"Az...ree...ul?"_

 _"Hey, you're getting it! Good job, Kris. I'm so proud of you."_

 _"Ku...ree...s?"_

 _"Yeah, that's your name, Kris. We're going to have so much fun together!"_

 _"Ku..rees...Az...reeal...brah...thur..."_

 _"Wow! You're learning how to speak really quickly. Maybe you'll be able to talk in just a few months!"_

 _Another voice._

 _"Asriel, baby Kris needs to sleep, so could you leave them alone right now?"_

 _"Awww! But mom, I want to play with them a bit more..."_

 _"No 'but's, Asriel. Go and play in your room by yourself for a little while, okay?"_

 _"Okay, mom..."_

 _Two fluffy faces looked down at them, smiling._

 _They felt fluffy arms lifting them up, cradling them, gently rocking them back and forth._

 _A voice was singing a soft lullaby._

 _"...light..."_

 _"...shining..."_

 _"...journey..."_

 _"...everything..."_

 _"...still..."_

 _"...hearts..."_

 _What were the words she was singing?_

 _Kris strained harder to here._

 _But they had only been a baby. They couldn't possibly have understood the words she had been singing._

 _Yet, the words were so familiar..._

 _Those fading words..._

 _The lyrics of a lullaby..._

Kris's eyes burst open.

The world flooded back into their senses, along with a surge of aches that made them wish they hadn't woken up.

"Kris! You're okay!"

Kris's vision cleared, and they saw Ralsei's face staring down at them.

That unbearable pain, that flesh-rending agony – it was gone.

"I'm...alive?" Kris spoke.

"Yes, Kris, you are alive! But you have to get up. You have to keep fighting!"

Kris lifted their head and looked around.

Deltarune stood upon a precipice, sword in hand, attempting to fend off five Head Hathys that were each taking swipes at them.

Bodies of other monsters lay strewn around the room. But what Kris hadn't expected to see was the hundreds – no, thousands – of monsters that were climbing up the precipice, climbing up to fight Deltarune, even as one after another of their brethren were being kicked off to their deaths in the crater below.

Rudinns, Hathys, Jigsawry, Ponmen, Rabbicks, Bloxers, Rudinn Rangers, Head Hathys, Clovers, King Rounds, and countless others that Kris had never seen before.

The whole room was filled with monsters streaming in, all charging towards the tower of rock at the centre to fight Deltarune.

"We Darkners will never bow to a human like you!"

Their battle cries filled the air as they helped each other up from the ground and walked fearlessly into death's maw together.

A motorcycle-riding Lancer and a reluctant Rouxls Kaard were already at the forefront of the next wave that had climbed to the top of the tower, rousing all the monsters together to make another charge.

"After Deltarune took the power of the Fountain, all the water in the world ceased flowing," Ralsei explained. "The Darkners in Castle Town and those in the King's army realized that without the Fountains, they were all going to die regardless of which side they fought on. So, they all banded together to attack Deltarune."

Then, to Kris's amazement and joy, Susie stepped into view. She was bruised and bloodied, but a smile still adorned her face.

"Deltarune underestimated us monsters," she said, grinning. "They thought they were so much more powerful than us because of their human Soul. But what d'ya know? When monsters get determined, we can kick some human ass together! Errhh, I don't mean yours, Kris. I hope."

Kris smiled.

Tears welled up into their eyes.

Everyone had come out to help them.

"Our battle isn't over yet, though," Susie said, tugging on Kris's arm to pull them back onto their feet. "Deltarune's magic is still too powerful."

"We have to try something else," Ralsei said, lowering his voice. "But this might just work."

"Tell us your plan," Kris whispered back.

Ralsei whispered his plan to Kris and Susie, and they nodded.

"All right," Kris said. "Susie and I will get into position. When we're all ready, give us your signal."

"Okay."

"Let's go!" Susie called.

At once, Kris and Susie darted off in different directions. Kris sprinted in a curve to the north and west from Ralsei, while Susie dashed northeast. Ralsei remained standing where he was.

Kris watched as the legions of monsters climbing onto the rock to fight Deltarune were thrown off, one after another, by barrages of dark magic and black lightning. Their bodies crashed lifelessly into the crater below. Only the return of the Fountains could save them. Kris felt desperate energy rushing through their veins, adrenaline saturating their blood. Losing to Deltarune was not an option.

When Kris and Susie both stood at their prescribed locations, they turned to face Ralsei, who hastily waved his hand up in the air.

Gleaming streams of white and purple light materialized around their three bodies. The Delta Rune symbol hovered above their heads, the two wings glittering. Kris waited for the moment that would decide the fate of all Darkners and Lightners.

Their feet was suddenly lifted off the ground, creating the sensation that they'd become weightless. In the distance, Susie floated up into the air with a puzzled expression on her face. Ralsei held his hand up, maintaining concentration as the spell he cast let them fly up to the rock that Deltarune stood upon.

Once they came into Deltarune's line of sight, they would only have a few seconds to achieve what they needed to do.

Kris held their breath, waiting for the moment they surfaced above the rock. They could hear their own heartbeat thudding while sweat dripped down their forehead. Their fingers trembled as they held their sword.

This was it. They were going to execute Ralsei's most desperate strategy.

 _Delta Rune Encirclement._

Kris floated up and over the rock, Deltarune coming into sight. Piles of monster bodies surrounded them, incapacitated Bloxers and Rudinns and Hathys all stacked up like columns of death. Dozens more were still fighting.

"Darkners of Castle Town!" Ralsei shouted as he flew above the rock. "Triangle Encirclement Formation!"

In an instant, all the heads on the battlefield turned towards Ralsei. About half of the monsters that were still conscious suddenly stopped fighting and began running towards the edges of the rock.

Chaos on the battlefield transformed into order as the monsters that understood Ralsei's command dashed into three lines that enclosed Deltarune in a roughly triangular space. Deltarune was quick to notice, however, and they charged towards one of the lines in an attempt to break through. The other monsters hurled themselves at them to stop their charge, but they were blasted away one after another by bolts of dark lightning.

Kris descended upon the rock, whereupon the Delta Rune wings that had let them fly disappeared. They sprinted towards Deltarune, sword raised.

Moments before Deltarune broke through the line, Kris met them with a slash of steel. Deltarune deflected the blow with ease, but took a step back to allow themselves space. Kris didn't let this moment go to waste and pressed forward with another cut. Their blade met fierce resistance as it fell into one of the jagged valleys of Deltarune's sword.

Kris had to hold their ground as Deltarune landed a kick against their shin. Biting back the pain, they slashed at Deltarune again.

During the few seconds afforded by this duel, the three lines surrounding Deltarune solidified, completing the first phase of the encirclement.

"Trident Attack Formation!" Ralsei shouted next.

A group of monsters at one tip of the triangle stepped forward and split themselves up into three smaller, triangular-shaped formations. The three formations arrayed themselves into a line with the two on the sides facing forward at Deltarune and the one in the centre facing backwards.

Kris couldn't keep up with Deltarune's swordplay any longer. They were being backed up against the outer line by their persistent flurries of blows. Summoning up the last of their strength, Kris took a step back and catapulted their body forward in an attempt to break past Deltarune's deadly blade.

They were stopped dead in their charge by a hand that plunged against their throat, knocking the air out of their lungs. The hand constricted, choking them, then lifted their entire body up into the air.

"Pathetic," Deltarune said. "This is all the resistance you can show me?"

Kris kicked and struggled as white and black spots flashed across their visual field. Their lungs cried out for air. Every muscle in their body was fighting, straining, begging to be released from the choke hold, but to no avail. Deltarune's lips curved into a victorious smirk.

Their arm started to go limp.

"Kris!"

Susie barrelled into Deltarune, knocking all three of them to the ground as she headbutted them in the side. A furious expression fell over Deltarune's face as they realized what they had just let happen. On the ground, Susie pushed her body up onto her knees and landed punch after punch against Deltarune, a desperate attack to inflict as much damage onto them as she could before she was thrown off.

Deltarune caught one of her punches in midair and twisted her wrist, creating a face of unspeakable pain. Before she could even scream, a blast of dark lightning flung her body so far back that she crashed against the outer line.

"Susie!"

Kris had no time to react before Deltarune was back on their feet, sword aimed at their head.

A blast of fire temporarily stole Deltarune's attention, giving Kris the split second they needed to grab their sword and reenter the duel with Deltarune.

With each blow they exchanged, Kris felt the raw demonic force of an inhuman presence. The opponent that they faced was no mere human, nor were they a monster. The power they exuded could be both seen and felt. An aura of chaos, an insatiable lust to hurt and to destroy, an overwhelming power that could overturn anything that stood in its way, send the whole world revolving.

Their other self smiled as Kris was backed up against the line once more.

"Here, Kris!"

The next moment Kris went in for an attack, fire coated their blade. Their sword smashed into Deltarune's jagged blade, sending a flurry of sparks up in the air.

Fire and electricity arced against each other, a tango that created spirals of destructive magic that coalesced into a whirling storm of carnage. Their two swords exploded, flinging both of them to the ground and turning the floor where they had formerly stood into smouldering red rock.

Neither had any weapon left to use.

Deltarune stared at Ralsei with a murderous look in their eyes.

"No, you're dealing with me!"

Kris hurled their body on top of Deltarune.

The next thing they registered was a ceaseless flurry of blows, both to and from their body. They could no longer tell who was screaming, who was trying to hit whom, or where the pain was even coming from. All they knew was they had to keep attacking to survive. They sent punches, grabs, kicks, bites, scratches, and received an equal number in return. They attacked like there was no tomorrow.

Unbearable agony shot through every vein in their body as dark lightning coursed across their skin. The fighting came to a stop with Deltarune towering over them, their hand buried against their neck. The world burned.

Kris's pain ended as quickly as it came as Deltarune was blasted off of them by a multi-coloured attack that looked like the simultaneous beam of every Darkner monster's attack at once. The awe-inspiring blast hurtled Deltarune back to the centre of the encirclement, their body crashing hard enough against the rock to create cracks.

"Kris!" Ralsei shouted, rushing towards them. "Are you okay?"

"D–Don't worry about me," Kris said, trying to smile through their pain and fatigue. "Just stop Deltarune."

Ralsei nodded with a heavy expression. "I need you to get back up."

Kris tried to climb back onto their feet even as every cell in their body seemed to be screaming for relief. Ralsei cast a healing spell over them, relieving some of the pain, but not by much. Tears came into his eyes.

They turned towards Deltarune, who was already about to get back up.

"We need to cast the spell," Ralsei said, wiping his tears away. "Now."

"I know."

"When I give the signal, you'll do what I told you, right?" A small blush came over Ralsei's face.

"Yes. I promise, Ralsei."

"Thank you, Kris."

Ralsei pulled himself away from Kris and rushed over to the other side of the encirclement. They were now standing directly on either side of Deltarune.

Deltarune climbed back onto their feet, trembling, their eyes filled with rage.

"Darkners!" Ralsei shouted. "Hold your formation!"

Ralsei raised his hand into the air.

Beams of white and purple light streamed around the entire triangular formation, creating visible contours where the line was solid. A curved triangle materialized around the entire formation.

Another three beams flew towards the "trident" formation at the bottom of the triangle, creating three smaller equilateral triangles: the upright ones on either side and the inverted triangle at the centre facing downwards.

One last beam shot towards Deltarune, creating a sphere of pure light around their body.

The symbol was forming.

"Now!" Ralsei shouted out. "The lullaby!"

Kris closed their eyes and sang the lyrics.

 _A strange light fills the room,_

 _Twilight is shining through the barrier._

 _It seems our journey is finally over._

 _Despite everything,_

 _It's still us,_

 _Our hearts full of determination._

When Kris opened their eyes, two gleaming white wings had spread out from their back and from Ralsei's.

Delta Rune was complete.

The entire room grew silent. In that moment, something happened that none of them, not even Ralsei, could truly understand. It was the spell that would stop Deltarune from hurting any more people.

The 'space' around Deltarune suddenly caved in on itself, forming a vortex that began pulling everything in.

Deltarune's body contorted and sank into the vortex.

"Get out of the formation!" Ralsei shouted.

At once, every monster broke from the lines, dashing towards the edge to begin frantically climbing down from the rock. A few jumped off, having placed their bets on being revived after the healing Fountains returned.

Kris, Susie, and Ralsei were the only ones left within the Delta Rune formation as the vortex continued to expand.

"Susie!" Ralsei shouted, rushing towards her to heal her. "Are you okay?"

"Ugh...I'm going to feel this one in the morning," Susie said, clutching at her broken wrist. "Ralsei, what happened?"

"This is the spell that my ancestor, the original Deltarune, had cast to create the Dark and Light Worlds," Ralsei said. "All space inside the Delta Rune becomes sealed off from the external world. We...created a second Dark World, one where the human Deltarune will be trapped in for a very long time."

"What? There are two Deltarunes?" Susie shook her head, sighing. "Well, we better get out of here then! Wouldn't want to be trapped in there with them, would we?"

Something began shining out of the vortex. It looked like the glowing wall from the East Fountain that Susie and Kris had passed through to return to their world the first time they came here.

"That's the West Fountain," Ralsei whispered. "Having been forged from the original Deltarune's magic, they are the only substance capable of resisting the vortex. That's why the fountains are bridges between the Dark and Light Worlds."

"Will this Fountain take us back to our world?" Kris asked.

Ralsei nodded. "Yes. You should hurry, before the vortex expands past the Fountain. You won't be able to go back if that happens."

Susie didn't waste any time. She was already on her way there.

Kris paused, feeling something hot rising up into their face.

"Kris?" Ralsei spoke.

"Ummm...I..."

"Kris, what's wrong?"

Kris turned towards Ralsei as their vision grew misty. "I might not be able to come back for a long time. I...didn't exactly leave my world on the best terms. It'll be a while before my family and my friends can forgive me."

Ralsei lowered his head. Then, he took off his hat.

"I'll be waiting for you," Ralsei said, his cheeks going full blush. "I promise."

Kris couldn't stop the warm, salty tears from flowing down their cheeks. "Please don't wait for me, Ralsei! You're a great prince, with so many good friends. You don't have to worry about me."

Ralsei shook his head.

Then, he leaned forward and kissed Kris on the lips.

Kris's tears became accompanied by a blush as full and red as Ralsei's.

"I'll always wait for you," Ralsei whispered. "You've forever made a place in my heart."

"Ralsei..."

He took Kris's hand and pointed them towards the Fountain. "Go, Kris. There's no time left. This is your only chance to get back to your world."

Wiping away their tears, the feeling of Ralsei's lips still warm on theirs, Kris nodded and took a step towards the portal.

Their hand trembled as they let go of Ralsei's.

"Don't worry, Kris," Ralsei said behind them. "We'll definitely see each other again."

"I know," Kris replied. "I'm...I'm ready. I'm ready to face my world again."

"Good!"

Ralsei waved goodbye.

"Just one more thing," Kris said, turning around. It was so hard to pull their gaze away from Ralsei's beautiful eyes. "That song you taught me – I know it. I've heard the lyrics before. Does the song have a name?"

"I...don't know."

"Let's give it a name, then!" Kris gave a genuine smile. "When we're apart, we can sing the song to remind us of each other. It'll be our song. Our lullaby."

Kris stepped in front of the portal.

"I like it," Ralsei called out, the last time Kris would hear his voice in this world. "I like it, Kris! That's what I'll call it from now on. Our Lullaby."

Without turning around, still smiling, Kris raised their hand and waved goodbye as they stepped through the Fountain.

The world flashed before their eyes.

Kris knew that things wouldn't be easy ahead. It wouldn't be easy apologizing to everybody, to their friends, their teacher, their mother. But they held on to hope.

The hope that one day, they would see Ralsei again.

The hope that the next time they were together with Ralsei, it wouldn't just be the two of them in the Dark World. It would be underneath a warm noonday sun, or beneath an umbrella sheltering them from the wind and the rain, or under a night sky full of glittering stars and a glowing crescent moon.

The hope that, in the future, when the sun shone its light upon Kris, it would cast a silhouette of two shadows walking side by side, hand in hand.

Filled with this hope, Kris opened their eyes.

The future belonged to them together.

* * *

Thanks for reading this story!

I can't wait for Toby Fox to release the full Deltarune. I guess part of my motivation for writing this story is to try to fill in the plot of Deltarune to relieve my anticipation. But mostly I wrote it for the Kris/Ralsei fluff :)

If you liked this story, please leave me comments or suggestions to help me improve my writing!


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